Changing What is to Come
by juman1994
Summary: Kakashi listens to Madara as he revels the truth behind the Massacre before finding himself back in time. Now he must come up with a plan to make a better future but will he succeed?
1. A New Beginning

**My laptop died two months ago and I just bought a new one so I'm celebrating the occasion with a new story! Don't worry I'm going to update my other stories and I apologize for not being able to write. Hope you enjoy it =D**

Kakashi regained consciousness and found himself in a bed under an off white ceiling. Due to the lack of anesthetic smell, Kakashi figured that he was found by a non-enemy that was nursing back to health in a private room rather than the dreaded hospital.

Suddenly, his stomach flipped and Kakashi felt bile rise up his throat. He attempted to get to a bathroom before he deposited the contents of stomach on his savior's bed. He threw his legs to the side of the bed, however, his legs didn't reach the floor as quickly and he fell down. Now sprawled on the floor, Kakashi looked at himself, noticed that his legs were a few inches shorter than usual and promptly threw up.

_"What's going on?" _he asked himself in wonder ignoring the vomit now stinking up the air around him. Kakashi desperately wanted a mirror now, wondering why he was suddenly smaller. He reached the bathroom nearby and looked at the mirror to see his face as a child staring back at him.

Kakashi visited his last memories in order to try and understand how this has happened. The last thing he remembered was Madara telling them the truth about the Uchiha clan, did he do something? That seemed the most likely scenario.

Another question flitted into Kakashi's mind, was his adult body turned to that of a child or was his soul sent back in time. Kakashi headed back to the room he was in hoping to find some sort of a clue. However this time, he did not see a stranger's room, rather his own apartment before the Kyubi had attacked.

The bed was situated under the window adorned with a blue kunai patterned comforter. His desk was facing opposite the bed; there were scrolls and paper strewn all over the surface in a messy bundle. A bookcase was standing next to it filled with books on top of books, some he collected while on missions outside of Konoha while others he had inherited from his father. The only thing that wasn't a reading object were two frames, the first was on his fifth birthday, his last before his father's suicide. A young and maskless Kakashi was smiling widely while sitting under a lush green tree, a present between his legs and Minato smiling even more brightly as he ruffled his new and only student's hair. The other was a picture of his old team seven whole and happy. Still not able to wrap his head around the fact that he had time travelled, Kakashi picked up the calendar hung on the wall and noted that the date was twenty years ago. He finally accepted the fact that he was in the past, there was no other explanation.

A range of emotions swam through him, first of shock, then panic settled in, and finally he felt excited. He was given a second chance! But before he could get carried away, he needed to analyze the situation more thoroughly.

First things first, he needed to get cleaned up. He trudged to the bathroom where he keeps his cleaning supplies for as long as he can remember, he took the needed tools and went back to the room, dropped down on all fours and started to wipe the liquid clean of the floor. After removing every bit of vomit, Kakashi went to grab some clean clothes. He noted that most of his clothes were plain grey, navy blue or black. He needed to go out and get some lighter clothes. Having picked out the needed clothing articles Kakashi headed to the bathroom and took an invigorating shower.

Now dressed and clean, Kakashi sat down on his bed in a meditative position and began thinking of what, when and how to change things for the better. First thing was to help train Obito and Rin become stronger without drawing too much attention from Minato sensei. Rin really needed to become a better fight, whenever she was spotted by the enemy, she needed help. True she was a medical ninja but so were Sakura, Shizune and Tsunade and they were all able to defend themselves and put up a great fight when needed to. Tsunade and Sakura's style of brute strength and taijutsu were defiantly not Rin's style. Shizune used poisons but anyone who could avoid being poisoned was safe and she would eventually run of poisons.

Kabuto used chakra scalpels and although they were really effective Rin would never be able to cause that much agony and make her enemy suffer from a slow death. No, Rin needed a quick but lethal method to protect herself and dispose of enemies. It suddenly hit him, senbon. With Rin's knowledge of the human body she could easily spot lethal areas in her enemy and help out the team whenever she had a clear shot.

Obito, on the other hand, had a lot of stamina and chakra but little technique; he was a lot like Naruto in this regard. Obito and Naruto were both also flashy. Yet what made Naruto stronger was his unpredictability which was fostered from his pranks. Maybe if Obito found a similar way to help his talents along he would go a long way. But for that to work he needed something to capture Obito's interest. Also, Obito needed powerful trump card he could rely on. Maybe the chidori once he awakened his sharingan.

Regardless of how they became stronger, Kakashi had to remind himself not to change too fast. He was a jerk, loner and enjoyed ridiculing Obito almost constantly; he couldn't suddenly start helping him.

The Kyubi attack was something he had no way how to fix. He could warn Minato sensei before time to help him prepare for a better plan that might let him survive but he couldn't just mention things like that without getting people suspicious. He could get to that later though, it was three years from now.

And finally, he needed to train himself. He already mastered ninjutsu thanks to his talent in the area, the creation of his own A ranked jutsu, the sharingan and the hundreds of ninjutsu he had copied over the years. He needed to focus on something else, something that didn't depend on chakra to balance out his use of ninjutsu. He was not build born mastery over taijutsu and had had enough training with Gai over the years to get sick of it already, He wasn't interested in seals because Minato sensei was going to live so Konoha didn't need another seals master.

Genjutsu wasn't his thing and even while he had the sharingan he had never been drawn to the art of the ninja. Weapons were a good choice, they complemented his use of ninjutsu perfectly. But he didn't want to have tons of weapons, just one he was really deadly with, a sword. Swordsmanship had always appealed to Kakashi and he could already wield a blade incredibly well. He just wasn't an expert on it, and that was what he needed to work on for himself. And now with the lack of sharingan he could have more chakra and stamina available during battle.

He felt a presence near him and snapped his eyes open to find himself face to face with his sensei. Kakashi was overcome with emotion and wanted to just hug the man but knew he had to resist. Minato was looking at his student with worry etched all over his face.

"Kakashi, are you alright?" he questioned his student.

"I'm fine" Kakashi nodded masking his emotions, "What are you doing here, Minato sensei?"

"You didn't show up for training today," Minato reminded him "That's not like you."

"Oh it's nothing," Kakashi replied reprimanding himself, "I'm just a little tired today."

"Are you sure you aren't sick or anything," Minato inspected Kakashi carefully "because when you're sick or injured I have to drag you off to rest."

"That is true," Kakashi smiled "but I know when I can't train. Those others time you were just babying me too much"

"So that time you had a broken wrist you thought you were fit for training?" Minato asked in amusement as he made his way towards the desk chair, flipped it around and sat down in front of the bed.

"I was running!" Kakashi complained remembering that incident all too well, "What do my legs have to do with my wrist?"

Minato rolled his eyes not wanting to get into this debate with his student once more. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yea, loads better" Kakashi nodded "Don't worry about me"

"When you say that I worry even more" Minato commented offhandedly

"Well, you shouldn't" Kakashi replied "I can take care of myself just fine"

"Sure you can" Minato answered in order to amuse him. Yet Kakashi knew that Minato sensei didn't believe that for a second. Not that he can blame him he was terrible at managing his health. Sure he ate greens but when it came to sleep, taking it easy after injuries and not pushing oneself, Kakashi was and still is hopeless.

"Did you eat well?" Minato asked when Kakahsi refused to reply to his comment.

Kakashi couldn't bear the thought of lying to his sensei so settled on telling the truth, "Considering I vomited in the morning, no I did not."

Minato narrowed his eyes and before getting out of the chair, grabbing Kakashi's hand and marching him towards the kitchen. Kakashi just smiled happy to see his doting sensei once more to even care about it at the moment.

"Sit down and I'll make you some chicken soup" Minato ordered once he entered the kitchen. He ran around the kitchen gathering the needed appliances and ingredients and began to cook.

"I thought you didn't know how to cook," Kakashi pointed out remembering Kushina being furious at him once for almost burning down the kitchen. Maybe Kakashi should learn cooking, simple and take out foods were not satisfying and he didn't feel up to going to a restaurant all the time.

"I can cook simple food," Minato told him "Pasta, soup, eggs, rice… that sort of thing."

"Are you sure because I don't want to get food poisoning, sensei" Kakashi replied cheekily "My stomach is already upset"

Minato simply smiled reassuringly as he stirred the pot's contents. Kakashi, deciding to be safe, walked towards him and peered into the pot to make sure it really was acceptable to eat. "Looks good, I guess I'll trust you then."

"I'm honored" Minato deadpanned, "Go grab a bowl."

Kakashi started to make his way towards the cupboard but forgot where he put the bowls. He got it on the second try so Minato didn't think much of it much to Kakashi's relief. He made a grab towards a bowl but stopped, "Do you want to eat too, sensei?"

Minato stopped in surprise for a second not having thought about whether he had wanted some before nodding his head. Kakashi grabbed two bowls and two spoons and set them on the table.

Minato turned off the stove, set the pot on the table, grabbed the bowls and served hot soup to the both of them. Kakashi took of his mask and began drinking the soup almost immediately.

Minato chuckled as he had some himself "Not hungry, huh?"

"I never said I wasn't hungry," Kakashi noted after swallowing "I just didn't think my stomach could handle food, but soup is light so I'm having some."

"And it didn't occur to you?" Minato questioned

"Nope" Kakashi shook his head as he finished off the last of his soup. "That was good, thanks Minato sensei!"

"Don't mention it" Minato smiled as he reached out to ruffle his hair. Kakashi missed the gesture so didn't bother moving out of the way but did mention his 'annoyance' like he knew he would've done. Speaking of which he was pretty sure he was already acting a bit out of character anyway, he was more talkative, was teasing his sensei and was accepting his sensei's help without a fuss. It wasn't much but Minato sensei knew him well so he would probably notice. Hopefully he would think that Kakashi was just growing out of a phase.

"It's eight so you should get some rest" Minato noted as Kakashi piled the dishes in the sink

"But that's early," Kakashi complained

"Not when you're sick" Minato told him. Kakashi sighed but headed towards his room after bidding Minato goodbye after thanking him again, noting that he really was tired. But he wasn't worried, going back in time had strained his brain. He wondered whether he would wake up tomorrow and that this would all just be a dream. He sincerely hoped it wasn't.


	2. To Know Where We Stand

Kakashi woke up still not sure whether the previous day was a dream or reality. He kept his eyes shut, prayed that he was still in the past, took a deep breath and finally opened his eyes. Looking at his old apartment once more, Kakashi smiled and jumped out of bed excited to meet Obito and Rin again. He walked to the bathroom, washed his face and brushed his teeth, then headed towards his small kitchen and made himself some toast. He went to the closet to get dressed and then headed towards his bed, looked under it and grabbed the small casket that kept his father's white fang.

Opening the box he grabbed the small saber and smiled. He had missed it after it was ruined, and now, holding it again made this experience all the more real. He strapped it on his back and took out his forehead protector and tied it on. It felt weird since it wasn't slanted to the side but seeing normally with two eyes again, it was amazing.

Satisfied with the morning routine, Kakashi left his apartment and locked the door after him. As he walked towards training grounds seventeen, Kakashi couldn't help but stare at all the buildings and streets he knew were destroyed by the Kyuubi. Although most of Konoha was intact after the attack since Minato sensei teleported it away from the city fairly early, the part of town Kakashi used to live in was completely destroyed.

He finally arrived at his team's training grounds, early of course, and like usual sat up in the trees branches reading a book while he waited for his teammates and sensei to show up. If memory served him correctly, Rin would arrive second and would sit at the base of the tree under him and would ask him what he was reading that day. That is why he specifically chose a book about senbon to hopefully gain Rin's interest and get her started on learning the art.

It was ten minutes later when he saw Rin approach and his heart skipped a beat in happiness.

"Good morning, Kakashi kun," Rin greeted like usual as she sat down.

"Good morning," Kakashi replied surprising Rin since he usually never returned her greetings. She looked at him startled but he had already returned to his books pretending to be reading.

"Why didn't you come yesterday?" Rin asked him worried for her teammate.

"I was a bit under the weather," Kakashi replied not removing his eyes from the book.

"Oh, are you better now, do you want me to give you a checkup or some medicine or anything?" Rin went into medical mode.

Kakashi smiled internally since he missed how Rin would make a fuss whenever anyone was sick or injured. "Never been better," he reassured her and turned the page.

Satisfied, Rin finally asked the question Kakashi was waiting for her to ask, "What are you reading today?"

"The Art of Senbon," he answered praying that he plan would work.

"Really," Rin was shocked once more "I didn't think that was your style."

Kakashi was pleased that she seemed to know him so well; it was a nice feeling to know that she cared enough to get to know him. "It's not, but I need to know how to defend against it though." he elaborated "but reading it, I think it would suit you."

"You think?" Rin was beginning to freak out a bit. Kakashi was acting differently that was for sure, I mean just talking to her, or anyone, other than Minato sensei willingly was so weird.

"Yea, with your medical knowledge you would become a force to be reckoned with," Kakashi nodded "if you want I can lend you the book?"

"That would be nice," Rin smiled feeling her cheeks flush. Kakashi noticed but didn't say anything as he flipped down the branch hanging like a monkey and handing her the book before righting himself up again. Rin just stared at the book now in her lap thinking that Kakashi meant that he'd lend it to her later.

"Don't you want to finish it?" she asked hesitantly as she grabbed the book.

"Once you start using it in combat I'll learn about it from watching you," Kakashi shrugged "Actual experience and seeing senbon used in action is much more useful than reading it in a book."

Rin felt heat rise to her face at that and decided that she would give senbon a try and see if it suited her. She opened it and started reading it form the beginning whereas Kakashi decided to just sit back and relax happy to see the determination in Rin's eyes.

A while later Minato sensei came and paused for a second trying to understand why Kakashi was the one just sitting around and Rin was the one reading a book instead. As he approached he squinted at the title and was taken aback by the title, 'The Art of Senbon'. Since when did Rin read about things other than medical ninjutsu?

"Good Morning!" he smiled at his two students. Rin smiled at him and replied in kind whereas Kakashi just nodded not wanting to draw any more attention to himself for the day. "Interesting book, Rin," he said as he leaned on the tree.

"Oh, it really is," Rin nodded "Kakashi kun lent it to me."

"Is that so?" Minato looked at Kakashi for an explanation.

"It's not my style and with Rin's medical background it should help her more than it'll help me" Kakashi shrugged.

"I see," Minato smiled at this show of teamwork.

"What?" Kakashi asked indignantly at Minato's smirk.

"Nothing, nothing," Minato laughed at his student's annoyance. It was just like Kakashi to deny caring for his teammates or even giving them more than a second's thought.

Kakashi just glared at him accusingly before jumping down from the tree.

"Where are you going, Kakashi?" Minato asked in amusement.

"Since we all know Obito won't be here for another two hours, I'm going to use my time effectively and train till the idiot gets here." Kakashi replied coldly to make up for his previous actions.

"We train together as a team, Kakashi" Minato repeated the words he had used whenever Kakashi was in a bad mood and not up to waiting for Obito.

"We are at war," Kakashi retorted "we don't have time to just sit around doing nothing. What if I learn something in these two hours that can save my life?"

Minato looked at Kakashi surprisingly never having heard this argument before. Usually it was ridiculing Obito and stating that he wasn't worth waiting on.

"When you put it that way, it's true," Minato agreed "but we won't train without him today, I will explain this to him when he arrives and maybe that'll inspire him to start coming on time."

"Then what am I going to do for the next hour?" Kakashi huffed in annoyance wondering how his past self became such a brat.

"You can have your book back," Rin immediately piped up. Kakashi shook his head and waved her off. Rin hesitantly went back to the book, "if you change your mind just tell me."

"How about I teach you some theory," Minato asked. Kakashi perked up at this, Minato rarely taught him theory so he was curious.

"About what?" he asked immediately. Minato chuckled at his enthusiasm and motioned him over.

"Whatever you want," Minato replied once Kakashi sat down next to him. Kakashi went silent mulling over the vast opportunities he now had. What should he ask his sensei to teach him? He knew a lot since he was actually around thirty years old having read a variety of books. But there had to be something he never spared too much time or energy on. Should he ask for seals? Sure he didn't want to master them but in his timeline he had only went far enough to be classed a level B sealer. He did know a few A-ranked seals like the one he used on Sasuke, but that didn't make him that adept at seals.

Or he could ask his sensei on swords. Although he never saw Minato use a sword, Kakashi was sure he knew a lot about it from experience. But if he doesn't use swords he won't have rich knowledge on the subject. Kakashi thought back to his experience in the other timeline and tried to think about what he lacked, the answer came to him quickly, low chakra reserves and stamina. Kakashi knew some techniques to increase those but Minato might know more, and the ones he knew weren't really that good.

Minato just smiled as he waited for Kakashi to decide what he wanted to learn. In truth, Minato was surprised expecting Kakashi to immediately launch questions about powerful jutsus, yet here he was thinking carefully about what he wanted. It looked like his student was growing up, even if just a little. Minato stopped when Kakashi turned to him.

"I want to know how to increase chakra reserves," Kakashi stated.

Minato's eyes widened at the highly unsuspected reply but decided to mull on it later and began teaching Kakashi about chakra reserves, not only how to increase them, but how to better ones control over using chakra. Kakashi listened with rapt attention not wanting to miss a word. Sure Minato was saying a lot of stuff Kakashi knew already but every now and then, Minato would mention stuff Kakashi never thought about or knew.

Rin looked up from her book and smiled as she saw Kakashi completely absorbed by Minato sensei's speech and soon went back to her book enjoying it more and more. Kakashi was right, it suited her. With senbon she could defeat opponents without having them injured too badly and she could even put them in a near death state if she timed her attacks perfectly. Rin couldn't wait to finish the book and start practicing with actual senbon. She had already decided to go to a weapon's shop after practice ended to start. It filled her with motivation to learn something that made her, not only a medical ninja who waited on the sidelines, but a good opponent in a fight. Although she never said it out loud, Rin was disappointed in herself because the only note worth fighting skill she had was genjutsu and even that was just average. Senbon, on the other, helped her conserve her chakra for when the fight was over so she could heal the injured but she could still be a part of the battle. It was perfect! Rin looked at Kakashi again who was still capturing her sensei's every word and smiled, he had just opened her up to a while new world of possibilities and this would probably make her a better ninja. It was sweet of him to think about her as he read the book and the fact that he believed she would be good at it gave her renewed vigor. It seemed he really did care behind that cold exterior he put on.

"I'm not late," Obito came running up to them. Kakashi had to exercise every ounce of control not to just start apologizing to Obito and asking for his forgiveness.

"What's your excuse this time?" Kakashi muttered in fake annoyance.

"Two children had their cat stuck on a tree and I had to help them. The cat was a stubborn as hell though and it took me ages to get down!" Obito complained.

"Liar," Kakashi replied. Obito glared at him and was about to retort when Rin came in between them.

"That's enough," Rin sighed for the hundredth time

"Obito," Minato grabbed his attention, "From now on we won't wait for you more than half an hour before we start training. The war is reaching its climax and I want you guys to be the best you can be and have the ability to protect yourselves when the going gets tough. Can you please try to come on time from now on?"

Obito was shocked; his sensei never seemed to mind the fact that he was late all the time. He couldn't help it that he was late because no matter what he did he couldn't be on time. But Minato sensei made a point and he wasn't angry at him. Obito vowed to try to get on time because he didn't want Kakashi to become even stronger if he was training with sensei more than he was. "I promise I'll try, sensei," Obito nodded seriously.

"That's all I ever ask for," Minato smiled "Now then, today we are going to do endurance training."

All of his students groaned in unison. Endurance training consisted of constant running or constant taijutsu battles against Minato sensei.

"Come on, it is very important," Minato reprimanded them.

"Can we at least fight using taijutsu if we have to?" Obito whined.

"If you all agree I don't see why not," Minato said and laughed when they all nodded their heads way too quickly.

"Well then let's get started," Minato smiled as he produced three kage bunshin to fight with his students knowing they won't manage to land a hit anyway.

"Before we start sensei, I was wondering," Kakashi spoke up, "Could you place that chakra seal you mentioned on me. You said that placing a training chakra seal would help no only increase my reserves but help me learn how to conserve my chakra since I have so little."

"If you want," Minato nodded.

"How does that work?" Rin asked curiously.

"Kakashi why don't you explain it," Minato motioned to his student "I want to see how much you understood from my lecture."

"What lecture?" Obito asked immediately.

"While we were waiting for you," Kakashi glared at Obito "I asked Minato sensei to explain the theory behind chakra reserves and some methods to increase them."

"That's no fair," Obito whined "that sounds interesting I would've wanted to listen to that!"

"It's your fault that you were late!" Kakashi countered.

"It's not that," Minato interrupted before a fight could start and Obito glared at Kakashi one more time before focusing on his sensei, "I told Kakashi I would teach him about anything he wants and he chose to learn about chakra reserves. It was not planned."

"I want a lesson like that!" Obito complained.

"If you come on time for ten days in a row then I will teach you any theory concept you want," Minato promised which seemed to cheer Obito up in an instant.

"Well Kakashi," Rin turned to him now that that was over with, "how does it work?"

"As you probably now" Kakashi began "Chakra is produced by mixing your spiritual energy with your physical one. The training chakra seal Minato sensei told me about seals away your physical energy. Since your spiritual energy remains intact, the physical energy will try to become more balanced with the spiritual side. This causes your physical energy to increase. It's like wearing weights while training; they hinder your performance but increase your stamina and strength. However, increasing just the physical side of the equation won't increase your chakra reserves because in the end you need both. That is why one must meditate after the use of the seals to allow the spiritual side to catch up. During meditation, a ninja would allow his chakra to flow all around his body in a good amount, as if preparing for a jutsu, while attempting to feel the chakra weave its way through the coils in your body. Every now and then, the ninja must expel some of that chakra so the body can focus on generating more spiritual energy so you can continue. But like I said this is useless unless you attempt to feel the chakra coursing through your body. The ability to feel and understand your chakra is what the spiritual side of the equation is all about. By doing this, one can increase his chakra reserves and learn how to also have better control over it."

"Excellent," Minato beamed at his student "didn't say it better myself!"

"Oh that sounds amazing and dead useful," Rin nodded, "can I have the seal placed on me too?"

"Me as well," Obito said his eyes shining with determination.

"As long as you all promise to mediate every time I place the seal on you," Minato said sternly. They all nodded enthusiastically, "Also, you all need to understand where you stand individually on this matter." Obito and Rin looked at his in confusion whereas Kakashi just nodded. "Looks like you think you understand what I mean, Kakashi, give it a go."

Kakashi was startled for a moment before he hesitantly began to explain. If he knew too much wouldn't that be suspicious? Then again he was a genius so it might not be that surprising. Kakashi just had to make sure he didn't stand out too much when they started sparing. "Well, most people lean towards one aspect more than the other and there are few who are fairly balanced. If we take our team, for example, Rin probably leans more to the spiritual side if her chakra control and medical jutsu is anything to go by. Obito on the other hand, leans more towards the physical aspect so he should be good at using taijutsu and have ninjutsu that pack quite a punch. However, I am more in the middle, which means I have the ability to branch out more than Obito and Rin, but on the down side, my body won't help me as much as their would in their specialties."

"What do you mean?" Obito asked whereas Minato just looked down at Kakashi proudly watching his student answer the question with patience.

"Since you are more attuned to physical aspects of the ninja arts, you already have natural talent at taijutsu, not to mention that despite the fact you might not learn ninjutsu really quickly, once you learn a jutsu it would be more powerful than someone like Rin's who is more attuned to the spiritual and delicate arts of the ninja. Also, you can probably learn high ranked jutsu and perform them earlier than Rin can, that is because her body still won't be able to handle it. Rin, on the other hand, has amazing chakra control and excels at medical jutsu because her body is naturally gifted at being precise." Kakashi explained

"But what about Tsunade sama?" Rin asked confused "She uses taijutsu."

"Tsunade sama's main form of taijutsu is focusing her chakra at one point, usually her fist or leg, and releasing it in one burst with perfect timing. Obito won't be able to use taijutsu in that way since his chakra control sucks. Of course, Tsunade sama also trained hard and chose taijutsu because taijutsu can be the best form of self-defense. Being a medical ninja, you need to be able to protect yourself at all times because if you are injured, who is left to heal the team? Tsunade sama really is amazing to have come up with a way to blend both self-defense with outstanding offense by using her skill with chakra control. It probably took a lot of training and thinking on her part." Kakashi replied his voice full of admiration.

"Amazing!" Rin was really inspired at that piece of information and vowed to learn to find a way to make her own style with senbon.

"_He figured that out?" Minato was shocked "I just explained the concept to him less than an hour ago?! Maybe I should focus more on theory with Kakashi from now on. I know Kakashi is smart but this is simply amazing. Who knows what new theories and techniques Kakashi could come up with brains like that."_

"What about you?" Obito asked, taken away by how smart his teammate was. He knew Kakashi was a genius but he had never witnessed the theory side of his prodigious talent. Despite the fact that he was jealous and annoyed by this, he still couldn't help but feel respect towards his teammate.

"There is a good side and a bad side in my case. You see, you and Rin naturally have either great chakra control or amazing strength both physically and jutsu wise. I, on the other hand, have to work more than either of you to make up in what I lack either way. But, unlike you two, I can learn almost anything if I put enough work into it. That doesn't mean, though, that I can't surpass someone with innate talent, it just means I need to train more to bring out my full potential." Kakashi elaborated. Mentally, he berated himself for forgetting that. In the future he had stopped training as much since the sharingan had helped give him an edge in ninjutsu so he stopped worrying about being a balanced ninja once he learned about that during his last years of ANBU. He really let his potential slide and as a result wasn't as strong as a ninja as many thought he would become.

"Oh!" Obito was clearly surprised, "I thought everything came easily to you."

"The theory part does," Kakashi admitted "It's a good thing too; imagine if I had no brains AND no natural talent. Man that would suck!"

Minato laughed out loud, "It would yes, but usually balanced ninja lean towards weapons so you wouldn't have been completely lost. Most weapon masters are actually those ninja who are balanced."

"But that doesn't mean they necessarily have natural skill using weapons," Kakashi noted "It just means that they went for it because it's the easiest thing for them to learn. I am going to learn how to use a sword, but I'm not going to take the easy way out and stick to just that. The ability to learn everything is an opportunity they shouldn't have passed up."

"Also, being balanced doesn't mean you have no natural talent, it just means it isn't as concentrated. Believe me when I say that you have tons of natural talent in the ninja arts," Minato added.

"Thanks, sensei," Kakashi nodded, "One day I'm going to be one of the top ninja in the village."

"Good for you," Rin nodded encouragingly "You'll be great, if anybody can do it, you can."

"Rin…" Kakashi looked at her in shock. Rin was usually too shy to speak up like that. She admired him but it had always been from afar. Rin simply smiled at him and Kakashi couldn't help but thank her, which made her smile even more, Minato chuckle in amusement and Obito turn beat red.

"Let's start!" Obito declared "Enough with the theory."

Minato looked at Obito in amusement but abided his wishes and started placing the seals on his students on after the other. "Alright then," he nodded once he was ready and performed the seals for the kage bunshin, "let's get started."

Each one of his students followed one of his close to opposite ends of the training field and soon the spars broke out. Minato first observed Rin, she was different today. Usually she was hesitant and unsure of herself. Today, however, she was fighting the clone head on and going from one attempt to land a hit to the next. Who knew that being given a book by Kakashi and listening to him give a theory lecture would have such an impact. Of course learning about Tsunade's style and how she had developed it probably gave her the most inspiration.

Next was Obito who seemed more determined than ever. Again, he attributed that to Kakashi's lecture. Learning that he had a natural ability in using taijutsu lifted his spirits up even more. Not to mention that realizing that Kakashi had none and was still ahead of him must of have sparked that rivalry spirit in him.

Lastly, he turned to Kakashi's battle. Unlike the other two, Kakashi was more hesitant than usual, which struck Minato as weird. Usually Kakashi attacked him with everything he had dreaming of the day he would beat his sensei even if it was just landing a hit. Minato noticed that Kakashi had been acting weird today. First, he gave Rin the book about senbon, then he had asked for a theory lesson on chakra reserves, then he patiently explained to both his teammates where their talents lay and why, he also admitted his weakness by being a balanced ninja and now he was holding back in his spar. What was going on with his youngest student? He changed, for the better yes, but something must have happened to shake him up. He doubted that Kakashi was just sick yesterday, something else must have happened. Also, was this change temporary? If he brought it up with Kakashi would it propel him further or would he revert back to the lonely and misguided child he knew. Minato decided to keep a closer eye on Kakashi from now on and see just where this was going.

It was seven hours later when his students had finally had enough and were panting in exhaustion. The sun had started to set over Konoha and the three young ninja were ready to go home and collapse. Kakashi knew that being back in the body of a child would lower his stamina but he had forgotten just how little stamina he had as a child. Minato removed the seals and they all felt a small rush of energy seep back into them.

"Remember to meditate tonight. If you don't I shall know, and if I know that one of you didn't meditate I will ban him or her from training with the seals for two days. Do it enough times and I might consider that you are not responsible enough to train with the seals, understood?" Minato cautioned his panting students. Once they all accepted his conditions he sent them on their way. Unbeknownst to them, Minato had placed a seal on each one of them that measured how long one person allowed his chakra to flow through him and at what pace. It was a great seal invented by none other than the Third himself who thought it would be helpful for those who underwent such training to monitor their progress. Tomorrow when his students arrived he would remove the seal in front of them one by one to reveal how much time and effort hey had put into it. It should be interesting.

Kakashi went home for a well needed shower fully aware of the seal his sensei had placed on him during the spar but knew that his younger-self wouldn't have known. Since he wasn't used to the new amount of chakra he had, Kakashi didn't even have to fake testing what flow of chakra would be best for him to use.

After five hours of meditation it was midnight. By that time, Kakashi had relearned his chakra capacity and had already started on expanding his reserves. As he turned in for the night he couldn't help but feel pleased with how the day turned out. It was better than he had thought and hopefully Obito will start coming on time for important matters but he hoped that Obito would still be late for everything else. It would be too weird and sad if Obito started arriving on time to everything. Now that he had set Rin on the right path, it was time to find a way to work with Obito. He also couldn't wait until he could weasel another theory lesson out of his sensei and after Minato had seen Kakashi absorb this lecture, Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if he starts assigning him theory training on his own. Kakashi smiled in excitement wondering what tomorrow would bring.

**I know there was a lot of theory in this and I hope I explained it well. I also hope that you liked it! If there is anything you think I should be doing better, please let me now so I can work on it and make my writing and this story even better!**

**I would like to thank all me reviewers for the first chapter and answer some of their questions:**

**Rika24: I'm glad you liked the senbon training for Rin! Kakashi teaching Obito the Lightning Blade isn't something that will happen. Kakashi is just contemplating the idea but I have a plan for that amazing jutsu so don't worry. The Chidori will always be Kakashi's technique ;)**

**Schattenspieler: I tried to take your advice and I hope that in this chapter you didn't feel the day rush by and that it was spaced out. Thanks for mentioning those things to me if you have any other comments please don't hesitate!**

**Thanks again! **


	3. Starting the New Training Regime

Kakashi was enjoying a nice long rest until he woke up with a start. He blinked in surprise unsure as to why he had woken up suddenly and then noticed the water dripping down his face. He started to look around the room and found the source sitting at the foot of his bed, a small frog that Kakashi figured to be one of Minato sensei's summons. True enough, once the orange frog a realized that Kakashi was indeed awake the frog hopped over and gave him a small scroll.

"Did you have to spray me with water?" Kakashi asked grumpily as he took the offered paper. The frog ignored him and disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Kakashi opened the letter and started reading:

_Good Morning Kakashi,_

_An urgent mission came up and I had to leave early this morning so training is cancelled for three days, that is if we don't face too much trouble. Do NOT attempt to place any seal on yourself, seals can end horrible if done incorrectly. Keep meditating and when I return you can catch up physically. _

_Nimakaze Minato_

Kakashi sighed in annoyance; he was looking forward to a full day of training with his team. Kakashi couldn't help up but chuckle a bit at the idea of him trying to use a seal he didn't know on himself. Of course he knew his younger self was a bit arrogant and might have dabbled a bit so he could try it in the future without RELYING on his sensei. The sheer idea of depending on someone was a foreign concept to the younger Kakashi who considered it a shame to do so. Kakashi had a lot of things he needed to buy and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Figuring that shopping would be a useful activity for the day, Kakashi dressed and left the house without breakfast since he wanted to eat outside for the day.

He found a small restaurant near his home and went in. There were a few people in the restaurant and Kakashi was able to find a table for two next to a window. Kakashi sat down, opened the menu and started to read the menu. The Oyakodon looked especially delicious and Kakashi decided to go with that and wash it down with some apple juice. While waiting for the food, Kakashi decided to plan his day.

First thing he had to do was get a large amount of money since he planned on buying high quality gear. That meant he had to go back to Hatake manor and take some from the family vault. After Kakashi moved out of the manor, he didn't take the money because the security system his father and grandfather placed on the family vault was incredible. Ever since he had become an orphan, Kakashi would go to the manor at the end of every month to place his savings alongside with his inheritance. It was safe to say that Kakashi was a rich child and for once in his life he was going to use that wealth to pamper himself a bit.

After getting the money, Kakashi decided that his next stop should be a clothes shop. He needed certain outfits for missions and some training clothes. Then again he could just use his current clothes for any kind of training once he got some mission garments. After that he would head to the weapon's shop to get two swords for himself. Kakashi debated as to whether he should have them customized but decided that since he was going to have get another one every time he grew taller, it would probably be best to wait till he was in his teens before going down that road.

Last thing on his list was books. Kakashi already knew the books he had at home by heart and in the future, the only books he read were Jiraya's. Although they were good literature, Kakashi felt that he did himself injustice by not reading informative books every now and then. He was going to make up for that starting today.

The food arrived and Kakashi felt his mouth water at the sight. The rice bowl was covered in the heavenly sauce of chicken, egg onions and sliced scallion.

"This looks great," Kakashi smiled at the waiter "Thanks!"

"Enjoy," the waiter laughed as he placed the bowl and glass of juice on the table.

Kakashi dug into the meal without hesitation and enjoyed the blend of flavors in his mouth. Once he finished the meal, he drank the juice in one breath and went towards the counter to pay. The owner of the restaurant smiled jovially at him having heard the exchange with the waiter as he was making his rounds.

"Did you enjoy that?" he asked as Kakashi took out the necessary bills and handed them over

"It was delicious," Kakashi nodded enthusiastically "I'm defiantly coming back to try the Mitsuba."

"Thank you," the owner laughed and waved Kakashi away as he left his restaurant.

"That was fun," Kakashi smiled to himself and then started to make his way to the Hatake Manor. After ten minutes of walking he finally found himself at one of the most secluded part of Konoha. The Manor looked bleak and it was clear it was uncared for. The garden was full of weed and the windows were layered with dust.

Kakashi contemplated the idea of coming back here, the large space, the study and the training areas both outside and underground had their appeal. But it was hard to maintain the large area of land by himself. He could hire a house caretaker but it was too much of hassle and expense for the sake of one person. He would wait till he had a family of his own to come back here, if that ever happened.

Kakashi fished for the key in his weapon pouch, opened the front gate then did the same with the front door. When his grandfather first came to Konoha, he was considered an outsider and for that reason his grandfather built an array of defenses to keep unwanted visitors out. One of those defenses was that if anybody were to enter the grounds without the key or permission, the seals underground would spring a trap that will open the earth from underneath that person and trap him till a Hatake came and let him out. Kakahsi's father often said that his grandfather was very paranoid and Kakashi had to agree.

Kakashi walked through his house quickly as he made his way towards the private study at the back of the house. Once there Kakashi sent a small pulse of chakra through the door which allowed him to gain access to the now musty room.

When Kakashi was younger, the study used to always amaze Kakashi. He remembered how excited he was whenever his father allowed him entry to the study and those times were one of the best Kakashi had during his childhood. His father would light the fireplace and tell Kakashi stories of his ancestors' achievements and some of his own. Bookshelves on either side were filled with a ton of are and old books that held a lot of knowledge that had helped Kakashi survive in some tough situations. Now, however, the books were lined with dust and the corners were decorated with spider web.

Kakashi walked towards the third corner and removed the large urn that was adorned with the Hatake Clan Symbol, the head of a fanged wolf. Once it was out of the way Kakashi performed a set of seals he had learned the minute he learned how to use chakra and slammed his hand down onto the trap door underneath. The door opened in response and Kakashi jumped down into his family vault.

The vault was as big as the study and was filled with rare jewels, priceless scrolls, ancient weapons and a lot of money. Kakashi scooped a lot of money into a bag and then made his way out. After securing the vault, and locking the door and gate, Kakashi headed towards the market district to start his day.

He arrived at 'Miyazaki's Apparels', the most expensive shop in Konoha but without a doubt the highest quality shop as well. Its products were fashioned from the best quality materials there were. Not to mention, the Uchiha clan, Hyugga clan, Sarutobi clan all brought their apparels from here. It was true that thy all wore the same style standard Konoha ninja outfit during missions but there uniforms were custom made here. Kakashi himself brought his uniform from here in the future, complete with the under mesh and masks.

Kakashi entered the shop and was pleased to see it was relatively empty. There were a two Hyugga's discussing something with the shop's designer and another ninja looking at the mesh available for purchase. One of the shop keepers came up to him looking surprised yet pleased.

"Hello," he said politely "how can I help you?"

"Hello, I'm looking to buy a new custom ninja outfit," Kakashi replied.

"You are Hatake, right?" the merchant asked.

"Did my hair give it away?" Kakashi nodded.

The merchant laughed, "Yes it did, I never told you this but I'm sorry your father died. He was one of my favorite customers. I've always wondered when I'd be seeing you here."

"Thank you," Kakashi replied with a small bow to show respect towards the man.

"So why a new outfit?" he asked in amusement as led Kakashi to a private room he used whenever someone came requesting a custom order.

"All my clothes are standard quality which is a problem seeing as how I'm starting to go on harder and tougher missions," Kakashi replied.

"Sounds like a plan," the merchant nodded "but you are still young so I wouldn't go with the standard uniform just yet. I'll design you three sets of another uniform, custom made for you and only you of course. Does that sound good to you?"

"Yes," Kakashi smiled "Sounds good to me."

"Alright then, if we are going to be seeing each other a lot you should at least know my name, it's Tadao," Tadao said as he beckoned Kakashi to stand at the fitting area.

"It's an honor to have you working on my outfit, Tadao san" Kakashi bowed slightly once more.

"I should say it's an honor for me, Kakashi san" Tadao smiled at his young customer a he took out a measuring tape.

"Please, Kakashi kun is fine," Kakashi insisted reminding himself that for an eleven year old to allow a man to refer to him as 'san' or 'sama' without being royalty or at the top of a clan chain is not only arrogant but repulsive.

"Kakashi kun," Tadao nodded in acceptance "First of all let's get your measurements."

Kakashi nodded and Tadao began measuring Kakashi's height, waist, shoulder length, wrist size and even forehead. Once that was finally done Tadao, Kakashi headed towards the desk for the next part.

"Now then," Tadao said as he took out another piece of paper "What is your fighting style?"

"Well I use swords and ninjutsu mostly," Kakashi replied and Tadao jolted it down.

"And do you attack headstrong or prefer a more sneaky approach?" Tadao asked.

"I prefer sneaking, but eventually I have to move to close combat especially against multiple enemies," Kakashi said**.**

"Now let's talk design," Tadao said as he wrote down Kakashi's answer "What color do you want?"

"Umm…" Kakashi paused uncertainty "I have no idea to be honest, just not too dark."

"How about nature colors to help you blend in?" Tadao suggested after a small pause. Once Kakashi nodded in acceptance he continued, "As you know there are a variety of different ecosystems but I think a forest camouflage is our top priority. I think it would be best to make two forest attires and one rocky one as it is very likely to encounter that terrain with the war against Iwa."

"That sounds perfect," Kakashi nodded growing happier with the decision to go through with this.

"And I will fashion you a new headband with a brown strap as it goes well with both outfits," Tadao muttered as he continued to scribble on the piece of paper, "Do you want shorts or pants, long sleeves, t-shirt style or sleeveless?"

"I think one of the nature outfits should be shorts but the rest can be pants. Same with the sleeves, two long ones and one t-shirt," Kakashi mused.

"Alright then" Tadao nodded pleased "That's it, unless you have a certain request."

"Yes," Kakashi nodded "I decided to use the dual technique and would like a holder for two swords."

"I will make you two holders that can be combined into one," Tadao nodded "That way if you chose to use one sword you can have that option as well."

"There is also my father's tanto," Kakashi told him "I don't think I'll use it in every battle but I'd like to have it handy with me at all times."

"I could fashion you a leg holster but I think that that will hinder your movement," Tadao mused "maybe a seal and scroll to summon it?"

"That would be best, especially since my sensei is a seals master," Kakashi replied.

"Yes that would help," Tadao chuckled "that's all then?"

"Oh and mesh right?" Kakashi inquired.

"Of course," Tadao nodded "That's a given."

Satisfied, Kakashi nodded in agreement as Tadao placed his order in a file, "You'll have them all ready in a week."

"Great," Kakashi nodded "how much?"

"For you I'll make a ten percent discount so it should be this much," Tadao replied and handed him the receipt. It was a bit more than Kakashi wanted to spend but not by that much and it was worth it.

"Thank you so much," Kakashi nodded as he handed Tadao the money. Now he can use all his other clothes for training and not worry about wearing them out.

"I'll start on your forehead protector, it won't take long," Tadao informed him as he took out the necessary tools to change the strap "Why don't you take a look around the shop till I'm done?"

"Ok," Kakashi nodded as he left the room and began browsing the various merchandise around the store. It was five minutes later when Tadao came out, a new headband in his hand. Kakashi went up to him and took the protector and proceeded to tie it around his head. He started to make his exit but was stopped by Tadao.

"I didn't realize how much your protector will clash with the rest of your clothes," he muttered disdainfully. Kakashi was wearing all navy and in his opinion it didn't look as bad as Tadao made it seem. "Here, take these brown training shorts, it'll pull together your outfit much more nicely."

"There really is no need," Kakashi began as he caught the shorts.

"No person is walking out of my shop looking like that," Tadao smiled "I have an image to keep after all."

Kakashi laughed and accepted the shorts. He headed towards a changing room and traded his navy pants for the brown shorts. He had to hand it to Tadao, it really did look much better. He exited the shop after getting Tadao's seal of approval and a reminder to come back in a week.

It felt weird wearing shorts since Kakashi didn't wear them a lot but they were really comfortable and Kakashi was glad Tadao had insisted he take them. Now that he had taken care of his wardrobe, Kakashi went to a weapon's shop to get his swords.

He decided to go to 'Weapons and Scrolls', not the most prestigious shop. It specialized in the standard weapons, shuriken, kunai, standard swords and small chakra blades. Since Kakashi didn't want a custom sword since he would outgrow it, this was the best spot for him.

He walked inside the shop which was much busier than 'Miyazaki's Apparels'. There were all classes of shinobi in the store restocking their supplies. Kakashi walked towards the sword section and started to look for the height appropriate swords. Once he found the appropriate sword, he grabbed two, stood in line, and soon, paid for his purchases and made his exit.

Kakashi decided to drop his swords at home before heading to a bookshop. After dumping the swords in his apartment, Kakashi started to feel hungry but wasn't in the mood to sit around in a restaurant so instead he stopped at a small stand that was selling bento lunches and enjoyed the box atop of a tree, his face hidden from view.

Kakashi finally arrived at the bookshop and could barely conceal his excitement. This was the only form of shopping he liked. Nothing beat walking through shelves lined with books on all manners of topics. The store Kakashi went to was the biggest Konoha had and the store was an extension of the library. The librarian who had memorized Kakashi years ago greeted him with her usual smile.

"Good Afternoon, Yasuko san" Kakashi replied in a happier note than what he usually greeted her with. She was always warm and welcoming even after his father was disgraced and seeing her behind a desk again cheered him up. She wasn't dead in his timeline, however, she had retired and Kakashi rarely saw the woman.

"You seem cheerful," she noted with a smile "What's going on?"

"I don't know," he laughed "I'm just happy."

"Well I'm glad," she chuckled "What are you looking for today, Kakashi kun?"

"Everything!" Kakashi told her exaggeratedly which elicited another laugh from Yasuko.

"Well if you need any help you know where to find me," she instructed him.

"Will do," Kakashi nodded, picked up a basket knowing that he was going to purchase a lot of books and then disappeared behind one of the shelves as Yasuko went back to her paper work.

Kakashi enjoyed himself immensely picking up random books that interested him. He already grabbed six books all about various random topics. His basket now consisted of:

Stories of Konoha Legends

Current Politics

How the Shinobi Continent Became What it is Today

A Quick Guide to Cooking

Precision of Seals

Storage Seals and How to Make Them

Although they were great books and Kakashi couldn't wait to start reading them, the reason he came over was to get some instruction on using swords. Kakashi began browsing the titles in the weapons section looking for the books that would help him best. The first book that caught Kakashi's eye was 'Finding Your Own Sword Style'. Kakashi took the book and placed it into his basket but the second he had dropped it in, a hand shot inside and picked it up.

"Hey that's mine," Kakashi turned around to face the offender who turned out to be a woman with long brown haired tied in a ponytail and bright green eyes. She was adorning the standard Konoha uniform and was currently wearing a smirk on her face.

"I don't think you're ready for this kind of book, shrimp," she leered at him and placed it back on the shelf. Kakashi glared at her, grabbed the book once more and threw it forcefully into his basket.

"I think that's my decision," he said coldly.

"Tough guy, huh?" she laughed "Who taught you how to wield a sword?"

"That's none of your business," Kakashi stated angrily and tried to leave. The woman had other plans and blocked his path with her arm.

"You are not leaving until I know who taught you," she smirked again. Kakashi knew that with his actual skills he could slip away from the woman but that would draw too much attention.

"Self-taught," he replied indifferently.

"Then you are definitely not ready for this," she retorted and made a grab for the book again. This time, Kakashi was ready and he blocked her arm and moved back a few steps.

He scowled at her in annoyance, "What's your problem?"

"Do you think you can learn about swords from a book?" she asked.

"I didn't learn it from a book," Kakashi corrected her "I just did what came naturally. But since I never received instruction, I thought it would be best to get a guide to using swords to prevent myself from getting bad habits. Satisfied? Now leave me alone."

"I'll make you a deal, shrimp," she ignored the last part "Have a sword spar with me and if you do well enough, I might consider teaching you."

"Why?" Kakashi asked.

"I like you," she told him with a smile "You stand up on your own and have strong initiative."

"No I meant why would I want to learn from you?" Kakashi deadpanned and enjoyed seeing her face fall.

"You ungrateful little brat," she swore and then composed herself, "My name is Asuka, but most people know me as 'The Sharp Claw'."

"You're the Sharp Claw?" Kakashi was in complete shock. He had heard of her in ANBU. She was one of the best sword's masters in the history of Konoha who got her nickname because she wielded the sword in a way that made it seem as if it was part of her and that she was born with it. If she really was the Sharp Claw Kakashi could definitely use her help.

"That I am," she smirked happy that tables had now turned.

"Is that spar still available?" Kakashi asked his heart rushing in excitement of the prospect of a tough opponent.

She laughed and motioned for him to follow her. She was leading him out of the library so Kakashi gave his basket to Yasuko asking her to hold those for him till he came back.

"What kind of sword do you use?" Asuka asked him once they were outside.

"The standard sword," Kakashi replied "but I don't have it on my person."

"The standard is lame," she commented offhandedly as she led him to a small training arena near the library. A chunin was standing at the gates of the grounds and once he saw Asuka come up he immediately ran to open the gate.

"Thank you, Satoshi," she waved at him and then proceeded to the middle of the fenced area. She took out two scrolls and summoned two swords. One was curved, the other had two ends sticking out it rather than the one. Asuka threw the two ended sword at Kakashi who grabbed it from the air easily.

"That one is more dangerous and I don't want to maim you just yet," she said casually as if maiming people was a daily occurrence "Try to keep up." After those words left, she attacked him head-on.

Kakashi dodged her first attack and threw one of his own. She blocked it so hard that Kakashi felt his bones strain under the pressure. He jumped back and readied himself as she came at him once more. Kakashi raised his sword diagonally preparing to counter. Once she was at swinging range, she disappeared suddenly. Kakashi turned around and barely managed to block the attack. Asuka pushed him back forcefully and swung her sword at him once more. Kakashi knew that another block would probably break his arm, so instead he sandwiched her sword between the two ends of his sword and dug it into the ground. Both swords now stuck into the ground, Kakashi came in with a kick. Just as he was about to connect with her, he felt pain shoot up his left leg which caused him to falter in the kick and push away from her once more. Kakashi didn't understand when she managed to free her sword but somehow she not only freed it but attacked him. With both swords in her possession, the spar ended.

"Not bad at all," she smiled while giving him a calculating stare. Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly and started to inspect his wound. It ran from a bit under his knee all the way down to the middle of his leg but thankfully, it wasn't too deep even though it stung painfully.

"Do you have any bandages on you?" he asked her "I don't want to get an infection."

She threw him a wad of bandages and Kakashi started wrapping them around his bleeding leg.

"Are you sure you are self-taught?" she asked him once he stood back up.

"I was taught how to wield a small tanto," he informed her.

"The technique one utilizes is different than that of a sword," she informed him "Don't make that mistake."

"So do I make the cut?" he asked. He hoped so because it was clear that she was a legend. It didn't take a genius to figure that she was taking it very easy when sparing him. And even then the grace she moved with, the fluidity of her swings and the strength behind her attacks was at a whole different level.

"Depends on how you answer this question," she replied "What's the thing you need to work on the most?"

Kakashi immediately began to run though his performance. He had a lot of things to work on if he compared their performances. But what was the thing he lacked the most?

"Umm… Footwork?" Kakashi asked hesitantly.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" she questioned him.

"Telling," Kakashi replied and waited for her reply nervously.

"Almost," she smirked as she saw his face fall "I'll give you another chance."

Kakashi sighed and racked his brain once more, what is it? Then it hit him, unlike him, Asuka's every attack, movement and defense was accompanied with a sword movement as if it were a part of her. Kakashi, on the other hand, used it as a tool. After all, she was most famous for integrating her sword skills with very being.

"I'm using the sword as a tool to deal damage rather than an extension of myself," Kakashi stated.

"Correct," she smiled "But don't sell yourself short that last attempt to stop my sword movement was really creative."

"Thank you," Kakashi smiled proud of having come up with that idea. "So will you train me?"

"Who is your sensei?" she asked and Kakashi took that as a yes.

"Nimakaze Minato," he replied with a grin.

"Minato?!" she was shocked "Well aren't you lucky to have two of the best ninja in Konoha teaching you."

"I am," Kakashi nodded seriously "Minato sensei is the best."

"Well I'm going to ask him, more like threaten him, to have you train with me every now and then whenever I'm free," she said.

"Thank you," Kakashi said excitedly "I won't let you down!"

"You better not," she warned "I'll send you the date of our first training session with my cat summon. Bring your sword it's always best to start with the standard."

"Yes, Asuka shishou," Kakashi nodded and Asuka smiled a bit at the title "I have two though, should I get them both?"

"Going for a dual approach," she noted mulling it over "Let's start with one sword first to make sure you have the basics down, also, bring your tanto I want to see your talent in using it."

"Ok, shishou," Kakashi nodded.

"Get that book," she told him as she began to make her exit, "a few others won't hurt as well."

Kakashi walked back to the library filled with excitement about the prospect of learning swordsmanship from one the best there was. He was really lucky to have run across her. Kakashi trudged back to the sword section and picked up a few other titles about swords that were titled:

Basic Sword Techniques

Keeping your Sword in Mint Condition

Konoha Sword Dances

Swords 101

Sword Masters of the Century

Pleased with his choices, Kakashi walked out of the store looking forward to start reading his new books. He stopped by a mart on the way home and brought a couple of instant ramen to prepare for dinner.

Kakashi finally arrived home feeling worn out; shopping was more exhausting than training in his opinion. He took of his sandals, dropped the books on his desk and then started preparing boiling water for the ramen. Once everything was done and all Kakashi needed to do was wait the three minutes for the ramen to cook, Kakashi headed back to his room and put on a loose navy t-shirt and baggy black pants that served as his pajamas. He grabbed the two swords he had previously dumped on his bed and put them under it instead. Afterwards, Kakashi returned to the kitchen and poured the ramen into a bowl and started eating it.

Night had started to come and Kakashi glanced at the clock that was reading 7:07 pm. Deciding that he should meditate once more, Kakashi sat cross legged on his bed again and blocked out all other influences. Like usual, Kakashi lost himself in meditation and was glad he had thought ahead and set an alarm at 11:00 pm. Kakashi turned off the alarm and crawled under the covers of his bed, finally going to sleep.

**Thanks again to all my reviewers and those who added the story as the story to their favorites! **

**Prescripto13: I'm glad you agree with me! And now I'm going to do my best to draw out the potential **

**Rika24: I know, it's exactly like you said, Gai made it seem like Kakashi didn't work hard just because he is a genius. But no matter how talented you are you still need to work hard and I'm happy you see it that way too!**

**Vsasseranbuninjafromkonoha: You made me so happy by saying how much you liked my stories! Yes, Kakashi is going to train himself to become stronger and stronger. Like you said he is in the body of a child so his skills are going to deteriorate. What he retained was experience and knowledge but all the practical skills he had gained in the future are gone. Like Rika24 said, this is where his hard work comes into play :D**

**KakashiKrazed: You are the person that inspired me to write fanfiction so to hear from you is amazing! Thank you for mentioning the POV thing to me, when I reread it with that in mind I noticed what you meant. Since this chapter was all Kakashi, I didn't have a chance to work on that but hopefully I do a better job in coming chapters :)**

**THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE! Please tell me what you think of this chapter if you can, till next time ;)**


	4. Obito Won't Lag Behind

Kakashi was sitting on the roof of his small apartment reading though the books he had purchased. He had one more day before Minato sensei supposedly came back. The sun was up in the middle of the sky, there was a healthy breeze that made Kakashi's hair move along with it and there were birds gliding through the skies while singing harmoniously. It was a perfect day, neither cool nor hot and Kakashi was enjoying reading his material outside, occasionally taking a drink of water from the green bottle he had by his side.

During the two days, Kakashi had already mowed through the sword books and absorbed them like a sponge. Kakashi wasn't a beginner in the way of the sword, but he had never been given proper instruction. He just took what his father had taught him with the tanto and what he learned from experience and altered it a bit to apply for swords. Since he joined ANBU soon after his father's tanto broke, he never had time to learn it properly. Also, with the Kyuubi attack, Konoha was low on man-power so Kakashi was sent on back to back missions and had done most of his training on the field. It worked to a certain degree, and Kakashi had pierced a lot of people with the end of a sword. He never used it as his main weapon like he had done with the tanto; he just took it out when he had a clear swing or for when he wanted to distract his opponent.

Kakashi knew there were vast differences between a tanto and a sword, but never went beyond what was obvious. After reading some books, he realized that his general guesses where really close. A tanto was more like a huge kunai or a small blade depending on how you looked at it. A tanto was not useful for dealing lethal blow but was designed to slow down an enemy. It could rarely break through two sides of the body and there was always the danger of having the tanto become stuck if one tried to penetrate too deep. Not that the tanto wasn't deadly, but it was designed to subdue and capture rather than all out kill. Also, it was lighter and easier to maneuver with as it didn't alter one's balance like most swords do.

The sword, on the other hand, was designed to kill. An experienced wielder could kill a high ranking ninja with a lucky swing if the fates played out that way. The sword, unlike a tanto, could be wielded in various ways depending on how the user fought. Not only that, but the use of the sword was accompanied with dances and techniques to make the blade stronger, the wielder more graceful, the user harder to pinpoint and the strike more surprising and deadly. Kakashi fought with many swordsmen before, yet most of them had fairly straight forward approaches. Zabuza was one example, despite the fact that he had a unique sword, he never utilized techniques that integrated his swordsmanship and he was supposedly one of the best there were. Hayate, on the other hand, relied on his sword too much and although he had great technique, he lacked cunning and strength. These were some of the few examples that drove Kakashi to not pursue the art of the sword.

Now, however, Kakashi wanted to find a way to blend his fighting style with swords and use them as a medium to become even stronger. Kakashi usually defended by dodging or the use of kunai, his offense, on the other hand, consisted of the use of ninjutsu mainly. Every now and then he was forced to end things with taijutsu or an attack with a kunai. But with a sword he had much more options and it made him more deadly overall. Instead of a lightening blade, he would now wield an actual blade.

Speaking of which, Kakashi had to find a way to use the Chidori without relying on the sharingan. Kakashi wasn't sure whether he wanted to teach it to Obito yet, that is if Obito even had lightening affinity. Regardless, Kakashi wasn't about to throw away his prized jutsu, he had to come up with a way to make it useable to him. His best bet was to probably make it a ranged attack rather than an up-close one. Sasuke's version of the Chidori had the right idea but it still didn't appeal to Kakashi. It was easily avoidable if you saw it coming and couldn't do anything but move in a straight line. Besides, he wasn't going to use Sasuke's alterations even if they were the best there was. It was his technique and whatever finished model he came up with was going to be his own. He had more pressing matters to deal with now so decided to come back to the Chidori later.

Kakashi had already started the Cooking book and grew bored. Kakashi just didn't have the patience or the desire to cook anything that needed more than twenty minutes. He decided he would follow his sensei's footsteps and learn the simple dishes and no more than the basics.

Right now, Kakashi was in the middle of 'Stories of Konoha Legends' and was enjoying the book thoroughly. Also, the book gave him an idea for Obito. A ninja by the name of Saturo Daiki built his reputation from his creative use of traps. He was able to set traps on all scales and sizes, from whole ambushes to one on one fights. What impressed Kakashi the most, however, was how he would set up traps while fighting the opponent at the same time. He would actually lay down wires as he fought and when the time was right, would constrict them to trap his opponents. His most famous trap was the spider sac in which the opponent would find himself unable to move at all. It reminded Kakashi of the Nuibari, the Sewing Needle, one of the seven swords of the mist swordsmen style. But Daiki's style was more subtle, lacked the use of a sword and was more flexible as his style didn't consist of only wires. It looked like something Obito could get into and coupled with Taijutsu, Obito could find his own style and could go with that. He would mention reading about Daiki once Obito refined his current techniques a bit more.

Kakashi folded the page he was at and closed the book. He needed to follow Minato sensei's instructions and meditate instead. Yesterday, he spent a solid two hours perfecting the tree and water walking exercises once more. It didn't seem like much, but Kakashi had worked years to perfect his chakra control and so it didn't take him long to adjust. Kakashi estimated that he had meditated a total of eleven hours these three days in addition to the five he did right after the first training and hoped that it was enough to appease his sensei.

Minato had finally returned and Kakashi was heading to the training grounds curious as to how much his teammates had worked on the meditation themselves. Kakashi arrived first like usual and perched on his favorite tree, opened the book on current politics and waited for Rin to arrive.

"Good Morning, Kakashi kun," Rin made her presence known and smiled to her teammate.

"Good Morning Rin," Kakashi nodded in acknowledgment.

"What's with the new get up?" she asked looking at his brown shorts and brown forehead protector.

"I brought some new mission clothes and they clashed with my forehead protector," Kakashi shrugged "The shorts were an advertising thing."

Rin blinked at him in confusion because of the weird reply and was about to comment when Minato arrived.

"Hello," Minato smiled at his two students, noticed Kakashi's new clothes and gave him a questioning look.

Kakashi sighed, "New clothes, matching forehead protector, promotion campaign," he answered not wanting to get into the needless details.

Minato shot him another questioning glance but let it go. When he saw what Kakashi was reading, however, he couldn't resist, "Politics?"

"It's something I need to know!" Kakashi defended himself as he jumped down the tree.

"Last I remember, you summarized politics as old bats manipulating the law and using their powers to get more money and power. You called it a game of greed." Minato pointed out.

"I still agree," Kakashi nodded vigorously in agreement with his previous statement, "Now I'm learning exactly how corrupt the whole system is."

"That must be the stupidest thing I have ever heard," Rin told him bluntly and out of character.

"Hey!" Kakashi pouted but nobody saw because of the mask "You are supposed to be on my side."

"Sorry Kakashi kun," she giggled "but that really is stupid reasoning."

"Fine, be that way" Kakashi muttered and turned away from her scowling. Kakashi didn't know why he was acting this way but he had already noticed that he was more emotional now than before time travelling. Kakashi guessed that he had the brain of an adult but the heart of a child.

Minato was standing on the side smiling. Rin seemed to have gained a lot of confidence these past few days, and Kakashi seemed to be happier. Of course he was still keeping a close eye on his silver-haired student in an attempt to uncover the truth behind these changes.

"Looks like Obito kun is late again," Rin noted.

"We'll give him an hour since he still needs time to adjust," Minato smiled having expected that Obito will be late, "Did you guys meditate?"

Kakashi and Rin both nodded confidently and Minato smiled in approval.

"So what others things did you do while I was away?" Minato asked the same question he always did when he left on mission without them.

"I worked some shifts in the hospital, mediated a lot and…" Rin hesitated and stopped.

"Yes?" Kakashi asked curiously while Minato smiled reassuringly at her waiting for her response.

"I stared training with senbon," she admitted quietly not sure what to expect from her sensei and teammate. Shockingly it was Kakashi who commented first.

"That's amazing," he smiled "I lent you the book just a few days ago I didn't know you'd like it that much." He really hadn't expected Rin to get into it immediately, not for a few weeks at least.

"Really?" Minato said in surprise, "Care to show us?"

When Rin shook her head in embarrassment Kakashi egged her on, "Come on, show us!"

Rin sighed in defeat, her heart beating a bit because her crush was giving her so much attention, and then reached into her pocket and took out five senbon. She drew them up close to her face and threw them at a tree opposite her bystanders. The senbon hit the tree in roughly a straight line showing that Rin still needed improvement before using them in actual combat. Still, since Rin was never that strong in using kunai and shuriken, this was great progress for her.

"That was really good Rin," Minato complimented her "I bet your aim is better with one senbon. I'll train with you every now and then and soon you'll be able to use them in real combat."

"That would be great help," Kakashi nodded "I'm so glad I gave you that book."

Rin blushed at the compliments and decided to divert the attention to Kakashi, "What did you do, Kakashi kun?"

"Other than buying new clothes, I… well… I meditated and read… that's it basically," Kakashi admitted sheepishly.

"What did you read?" Minato asked his voice a bit guarded. Kakashi knew he was in trouble for not doing more but he wasn't going to mention the swords training since Asuka said she would bring it up with Minato.

"About swords," Kakashi replied.

"Did you actually use swords?" Minato questioned.

"A bit," Kakashi chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of head.

"Why was that?" Minato asked sternly and Kakashi felt a lecture coming on.

"Minato!" a voice interrupted and Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. Luckily, it was Asuka so hopefully this whole thing will blow over, for once the fates where with him. Still, Kakashi was a bit confused since in the past he remembered Minato sensei always lecturing him on training too much not the opposite. He figured his sensei would appreciate him taking the advice not lecture him.

"Asuka?" Minato looked at her questionably.

"What's up lemon head?" she smiled cheerfully causing Kakashi and Rin to laugh at the nickname whereas Minato scowled "I've been waiting for you to come back!"

"Why's that?" Minato asked her suspiciously.

"Lighten up," she laughed as she slapped him on the back, "I'm just here to make your life easier!"

"Huh?" Minato was clearly confused.

"I'm going to train Kakashi to use swords!" she declared "You're welcome!"

"Now wait just one minute," Minato said still a bit disoriented by Asuka's bluntness "How do you even know Kakashi?"

"We met at the library," she replied.

"You? In the library?" Minato snorted skeptically.

"I was doing some research, idiot," she snorted "Of course when I a saw a little boy browsing the swords section I was curious."

"I'm not that little!" Kakashi spluttered on the side.

Both adults ignored him, "And so you decided to train him?"

"Well we had a spar," she clarified "What does it matter anyway, so you cool with it?"

"I'm not sure, I don't want you to corrupt him," Minato sighed jokingly.

"You'll be lucky if he picks up a few things from me, blondie," she smiled "Besides, if you refuse I will Kushina about that mission when we went to the Tea Country to deliver a scroll that ended with you in an…"

Minato appeared to have recognized the mission because he shut her up rather quickly "Seriously you don't need to blackmail me you know?"

"I know but it's more fun that way," she laughed.

"What happened on the mission?" Kakashi asked curiously, Rin was also looking up to her sensei questioningly.

"Nothing," Minato replied sternly effectively ending the conversation much to his students' annoyance, "So how will this work?"

"I'm on a small break for two months," she stated "I might do some small patrol missions but nothing too long or hectic, maybe once or twice a week?"

"Hey guys!" Obito decided to show up at this moment.

"Not bad Obito, only an hour and five minutes late," Minato smiled encouragingly.

"I would've been on time but my aunt asked me to buy her some groceries, but I was quick," Obito said, then noticed Asuka and looked at her inquiringly.

"Oh this is Kugome Asuka," Minato introduced "we graduated the same year and were in the academy together."

"I can't imagine you in the academy sensei," Obito laughed as he presented his hand for Asuka to shake, "Uchiha Obito, future Godaime since sensei is going to be the fourth!"

"Nice to meet you," Asuka took the hand "Nice team you have here Minato."

"They're something alright," Minato laughed, "Anyway, that sounds good just send a message when you are free and if aren't doing a mission or some serious training, Kakashi's all yours."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Obito asked still behind.

"Asuka shisou is going to train me to use swords," Kakashi elaborated.

"Really?" Obito asked jealous that Kakashi was going to get extra training and then his annoyance turned to confusion when he saw what Kakashi was wearing but didn't have time to comment.

"Shishou?" Minato asked in amusement.

"Well I can't call her sensei since you have that spot," Kakashi elaborated "Senpai sounds to ANBUish and strict and Sama is too formal so both of those didn't resemble Asuka san. So I thought Shishou would be the best."

"You actually put thought into that?" Asuka asked in shock.

"Kakashi rarely does anything without thinking," Minato chuckled fondly.

"That's an understatement" Obito muttered still annoyed that Kakashi was getting another teacher.

"Anyway, I interrupted your training too much;" Asuka smiled "I'll talk to you later, Porcupine Hair!"and then proceeded to disappear with a puff.

"How many nicknames does she have for you, sensei?" Rin asked in amazement. She did not speak while Asuka was here since she was shy.

"Too many," Minato sighed disdainfully "Take your training with her seriously, Kakashi."

"I will," Kakashi assured him "You should have seen her move with a sword, it was amazing!"

"Is she really that good?" Obito asked.

"One of the best," Minato replied "How did you two really meet?"

"Like she said, in the library," Kakashi said "She kept taking one of my books saying I wasn't ready for it. We talked, she decided to spar with me and then wanted to become me teacher. I wasn't going to refuse, especially after seeing her skills."

"What are Rin and I going to do when he goes with her?" Obito complained, hating the situation more when he found out how good Asuka was. She even pleased Kakashi of all people, she must be amazing.

"I thought Rin can work on her senbon training when Kakashi leaves," Minato stated.

"Senbon?" Obito turned to Rin in surprise.

"Yea, I don't want to just wait on the sidelines," Rin elaborated.

"I'm sure you'll do great!" Obito encouraged his crush, and when she smiled at his words he blushed a bit.

"That leaves you Obito," Minato told him "You should learn something new as well. Think about it these few days then we'll run over your ideas to find the most suitable thing for you to learn."

"I will," Obito declared not wanting to be left behind.

"Alright then," Minato nodded "First, let's see if you guys meditated enough."

"How?" Obito asked curiously.

"I placed a seal on you during the taijutsu spar," Minato explained. Rin , Obito and Kakashi's eyes all widened in shock. Minato noticed that Rin and Obito's surprise was genuine but he had a feeling that Kakashi was faking. Kakashi usually enjoyed finding any opportunity to ridicule Obito when he knew something that the Uchiha didn't. Minato just jotted down as one more change he was seeing in Kakashi, "Once I release the seal, it will tell us how long you meditated after I put it on you."

"That's so cool!" Obito was amazed at his sensei's skill.

"Thank you," Minato laughed "So who wants to go first?"

When nobody volunteered Minato decided to settle it by drawing sticks. The one with the shortest would begin and so on. Kakashi took the one on the right, Obito the one in the middle and Rin the one on the left. The order was determined to be, Rin, then Kakashi and lastly Obito.

"I'm first I guess," Rin stuttered nervously. Minato just smiled reassuringly as he took out a plain piece of paper and then went through a few hand signs before tapping her on the shoulder. The seal transferred to the paper but instead of a symbol, the number nine was written instead.

"Not bad," Minato nodded "I'm guessing you did around three hours a day."

"The day after training I did about two hours and there was a day I had a long day at the hospital and couldn't meditate," Rin said.

"That's not a problem, since you are gifted with chakra control, you need to focus on the physical aspect more anyway," Minato relieved her "Either way, that's a good number."

"Thank you," Rin smiled lightly.

"That's really good Rin," Obito nodded "I probably did a bit less," he admitted. Rin smiled again as Kakashi stepped up.

"Since you barely did anything while I was gone, I expect a number higher than ten," Minato cautioned. Kakashi nodded certain that he did more anyway. Minato repeated the process and the number seventeen was written instead.

"See?" Kakashi smiled smugly as Obito and Rin spluttered indignantly. Minato just nodded although he was secretly impressed since children usually didn't have the patience to sit still for that long.

"Don't you have a life!" Obito yelled.

"I went shopping for most of the first day Minato sensei was gone," Kakashi retorted "And I read a lot too."

"But still," Obito wasn't satisfied "I get frustrated after the first hour."

"I have more patience than you," Kakashi told him bluntly "Besides, my father taught me meditation since I was four so I'm used to it."

Minato startled a bit at the mention of the White Fang since Kakashi pretended he didn't exist and these sudden changes were starting to worry him.

"You probably teethed on blunted kunai too," Obito exclaimed.

"I did not," Kakashi retorted hotly "I think…" he added uncertainty later.

Rin giggled as Minato laughed "I'm sure you didn't, Kakashi." Minato decided to steer the conversation away before it got too personal "Obito, your turn."

"It's not fair for me to go after that number," Obito stated with less exuberance.

"What did you do these three days?" Minato asked.

"Training on my fire jutsu and taijutsu," Obito replied not sure what that had to do with anything.

"Exactly, Kakashi on the other hand, just sat around," Minato said, eyeing Kakashi meaningfully.

"I did not just sit around," Kakashi contradicted while Obito smiled happy to have done something better than his teammate for once, "I read eight different informative books. I'd like you to try and tell me it's not tiring."

"Eight?" Obito looked at his friend oddly "You're a nerd."

"I'm not!" Kakashi yelled accusingly his childish side kicking in.

"What were they about?" Rin asked.

"Six were about swords and one was about cooking, but I didn't really finish that one, and the last one was about the legends of Konoha. Right now I'm on the Politics one."

"Cooking?" Minato raised an eyebrow at his student.

"It was as boring as hell," Kakashi shuddered dramatically "Never again!"

"It's not that bad," Rin giggled.

"Anyway, Obito you are up," Minato interrupted the conversation. Minato went through the procedure once more and the number six appeared, "A bit low, Obito."

"I know but I find it so hard to concentrate and meditate," Obito complained.

"Alright then, this is what we will do," Minato instructed "Obito, you and I will work on your meditation skills. Rin, we will work on your senbon training and see what you need to work on, I know I said we'll wait till Kakashi goes with Asuka but this is a good opportunity. Kakashi, you're running and training physically with the seal." Rin and Obito nodded while Kakashi sighed in misery. Minato ignored him and placed the seal on him then sent him on his way, "Obito start trying to meditate while I work with Rin a bit then I'll come and see how you are doing."

Obito sat down under the tree, crossed his leg and started to attempt to mediate. The problem was there were too many thoughts running around in his head right now. "_Kakashi and Rin, both of you are doing more than what Minato sensei is teaching us. Rin, she always focused on being a medical ninja but now she's learning how to use senbon, she wants to fight. Kakashi, he found another teacher so he can learn how to use swords; he's already above average in using taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. He's still looking to become even stronger and decided to learn an entire new field. He also knows a lot of stuff from all the reading he does. I don't want to be the burden, the one that gets left behind. I need to get more serious, I train hard but I never learned more than the standard; the Uchiha Fire Jutsus and some above average taijutsu. I need to find something for myself, Minato sensei said he'll help me, all I need to do is find it. But how? Kakashi said he can learn anything, so how can he choose what to do? And how did Rin find something to suit her fighting style? Did she sit around thinking about it or did it just come to her?"_

"Obito?" Minato asked as he sat cross legged in front of him, "How are you doing? You don't seem relaxed at all."

"I was thinking about finding something new to learn," Obito sighed in frustration.

"It's hard to find the area that suits you, but you never know till you think about it deeply and try," Minato told him deciding to put a halt on the meditation for a while since it was useless to try if Obito wasn't concentrating.

"How did Rin think of senbon? How did you know to go with seals? How does Kakashi know what area of ninja he should follow?" Obito asked desperately.

"Let's start with my seals," Minato said hoping to help his student "You know Kushina, right?"

"You're girlfriend," Obito nodded wondering where this was going.

"She is the sole survivor of the Whirlpool," Minato told his student, "they were gifted in the art of sealing more than any other populous in the world. At times, she would get sad because she left her home when she was young so she never learned the secrets of her people before they were annihilated."

"That's pretty hard," Obito frowned feeling bad for Kushina.

"It is," Minato nodded "I don't know what it feels like because Konoha is still here, thankfully. However, since both of our cities were really close, the Whirlpool left some of their secrets behind, all that took to bring their art back to the world was for somebody to study them. I was interested after she told me, so I started reading up on sealing and I turned out to be pretty good at it."

"More than just good," Obito scoffed at his sensei's modesty.

Minato laughed, "I guess, but in the end, with Kushina's permission, I learned the Whirlpool secrets, the Second Hokage's and came up with a few of my own. Point is; I wouldn't have gone into seals if I hadn't met Kushina."

"So it was fate?" Obito asked.

"No," Minato shook his head, "It was just what it is, and do you know how Rin got interested in senbon?"

"I didn't ask," Obito shook his head negatively.

"Kakashi decided to read a book about senbon and gave it to Rin because he thought it suit her," Minato informed him.

"Kakashi did?" Obito's eyes widened at the revelation.

"He did," Minato nodded "However, Kakashi was surprised just as we were when Rin declared she started learning how to use senbon. In the end it's your initiative that helps you become stronger, not fate or luck."

"And Kakashi?" Obito asked intrigued by his sensei's words "How does he know what to learn?"

"I don't think he chooses or knows," Minato laughed, "He just does what interests him, I think he's still trying to find what suits him best of all but to back it up with anything he can learn. Once you decide to do something, you must be committed and find what drives you to become stronger. For me, it's to protect those I care about and to become Hokage, for Rin, it's to help as many people as she can, for Kakashi, it's to gain the villagers' acceptance and his own curiosity. What drives you to train and become stronger, Obito?"

"I want my clan to accept me for who I am," Obito answered honestly "I'm not a genius, I don't learn quickly, I still don't have the sharingan and I'm the worst in my class. However, that shouldn't make my family feel ashamed of me. I just want them to acknowledge me. I want to show them that even a drop-out can become a great Uchiha."

"Then you must do that," Minato replied "Find out what makes you special among shinobi and work on it. Don't try to follow your clan's exact footsteps and ways, it's not for you."

"But that's just it, how can I find it?" Obito asked desperately again.

"Like I said before, it's completely random," Minato said "But I'll offer you some advice, read some books on basic techniques, look up ninja of the past and play to your strengths. Never say no to anything outright, always try before you reject an art. You may never know."

"What are my strengths?" Obito asked.

"Why don't you tell me?" Minato asked never having realized how deep Obito's confidence issues were.

"I'm a physical ninja so…" Obito began but Minato stopped him.

"So are around half the shinobi in the world," Minato explained "This only tells you were your strength lies, not what it is."

"What do you mean?" Obito asked.

"Ninjas who are more in tune with the spiritual aspect of the ninja tend to become medics, genjutsu users, seals experts and puppeters mostly. And even then there are more classifications under that. Your nature is just a guide to help," Minato explained.

"I see," Obito sighed and went silent for a while "I have a lot of chakra reserves; you once said that mine were above the average shinobi's."

"That's a start," Minato nodded in approval "That means you can go into ninjutsu since you won't run out easily, right?"

"I could," Obito said mulling over the idea.

"Don't rush into it," Minato cautioned "It'll come to you, besides it's bad to learn to many things without working on what you already now. Work on your taijutsu some more then worry about it. Just keep an open mind about it, that's all."

"Thank you, sensei," Obito smiled "That helped!"

"Now then, let's do something about your meditation and then we can talk about this more if you want," Minato smiled back before he started helping his student with his meditation skills.

At the end of the day, Rin was able to hit most stable target unless they were too small or too far and she was starting to train on hitting moving targets, but that was going a bit slow. Obito was now able to meditate for two hours and a half before losing focus which was double his previous ability. Kakashi alternated between running, punching, pushups, pull ups and crunches to keep his body fit in all areas. He also drank water between every two sets of exercises to stay hydrated.

"You guys are done for the day," Minato told them once they all gathered around him "Kakashi, come here so I can remove the seal, you two are free to go."

Obito and Rin said their farewells and left the area. Minato went through some seals and soon Kakashi felt the rush of energy, yet, he was disappointed that it wasn't more.

"In the beginning it's easier," Minato said noticing Kakashi's disappointment "But then it'll take more training to get the same amount of benefit. Like it's easier to lose weight when you are fat, that sort of thing."

"I guess," Kakashi muttered "however, I did a lot today so I expected a bit more."

"Don't worry, you'll feel the difference when you fight," Minato told him "Also, you are not only increasing your chakra but strength and stamina, it'll pay off drastically."

"You're right," Kakashi nodded. With that he turned around and started running back home while waving a goodbye to his sensei, "See you tomorrow, sensei!" When Kakashi took the final left to get back into Konoha, he didn't expect to find a familiar face. But his teammate was standing by the fence, and when he saw him, walked up towards him. "Obito, what's wrong?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Minato sensei said you gave Rin the book about senbon, right?" Obito asked seriously.

"Yes," Kakashi nodded not sure where this was going.

"I was wondering if..." Obito stopped mid-sentence regretting having stopped to do this.

"_He wants me to help him find something for him," Kakashi realized_.

"Never mind," Obito sighed and started to walk away.

"Wait, Obito!" Kakashi ran up to him "You want me to help you find something for you like Rin?"

"I just wanted to ask that if you find something that you think would suit me, to you know, tell me about it," Obito nodded and mentally prepared himself to be insulted. Sure, Kakashi was acting less hostile but that doesn't mean he would help him.

"_You still need to polish your other skills before you start with the new stuff," Kakashi thought "But once you're ready, I promise I'll tell you."_

"Sure," Kakashi nodded and Obito startled.

"You serious?" Obito asked.

"Why not," Kakashi shrugged "I'm reading either way so it wouldn't hurt to keep you in mind a bit. I won't look for anything specifically, but if I find something, I'll tell you."

"Thanks," Obito replied glad that it all went well.

"See you tomorrow, Obito," Kakashi acted indifferently as he and Obito went their separate ways. "_I'm the one that should thank you, Obito."_

**I hope you guys enjoyed that! Sorry for the latish update but I was writing for my other story but I'm a bit stuck. I think I erased what I wrote four times trying to find a way to reach the next chapter in "Legend of the Making". Anyway to answer some of my reviews:**

**Vsasseranbuninjafromkonoha: I hope your question about Kakashi's previous experience with swords was answered in the beginning of the chapter :D If not PM or something and I'll try to explain how I see it better and not in story mode :P Thanks for reviewing again you always have great points to make!**

**Fluffpenguin: I don't know how the ANBU really work in Naruto but I guess they do some really stressful and dangerous missions so they need a break every now and then or they break down under the pressure. I read many fanfics that have ANBU get depressed and suicidal so I figured it makes sense for them to relax or get a change of pace. So to answer your question, Asuka is on a break but she is still in ANBU and will go back to ANBU later on in the story.**

**Wulan-chan: I look forward to your challenge as long as it doesn't clash with my plans for the story. Bring it! ;)**

**Rika24: Sorry Rika24 but if you mean Tenten then NO! Tenten is beyond useless in my opinion, sorry for any Tenten fans, and it's an insult for Asuka to have her as a daughter :P What are your thoughts on Tenten anyway? I'm curious now =D**

**Devi no kaze and random guest: You said you were wondering how Asuka is going to scare Minato but I'm sorry to tell you that she just can't! Minato is too awesome :P As you can see, she blackmails him but he was going to say yes either way :D Hope you liked that =)**

**For everyone else that reviewed thank you so much! Like JK Rowling said "No story lives unless someone wants to listen." You guys keep me going so thanks :D Till next time!**


	5. Preparing for the First Mission

Kakashi was standing near the middle of training grounds ten with a standard sword clutched in his hand. Today was a bit too warm so Kakashi opted to dress in a grey sleeveless shirt and his brown shorts. Asuka was standing in front of him wearing a green tank top with the standard jounin pants. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she was also carrying a standard sword.

"Listen up, Kakashi, I don't teach theory or explain stuff, I believe in learning by doing, you got that?" Asuka instructed. Kakashi simply nodded in acceptance, it won't be hard to analyze what she does and copy or understand it. Not to mention he read six books on the subject. "However, there are a few things I need to explain to you before we get started. First, like we said before the sword is an extension of you, always remember that. Second, the standard way to grab a sword is pretty obvious but we are going to keep switching your grip so you can get used to different stances and not get into the habit of using one. Third, when using swords there is no dominant hand. I also don't care for holding light swords using two hands like some people do unless you want to apply a lot of force, it's embarrassing, besides you want to go for a duel technique so might as well get used to using both hands separately. Fourth, try to dodge as little as possible so you can get more out of the training. And finally, keep up!"

When the last words left her mouth she charged at Kakashi who tightened his grip and analyzed her movement as she ran towards him. She was wielding her sword in the left, and he in the right so her sword was facing his sword as she rushed towards him. She wasn't veering left or right, but running in a straight line. Kakashi lifted his sword up a bit and when she was about to strike moved into a swipe of his own to gain some blocking advantage from the momentum. The swords clanged loudly at the moment of impact and Asuka immediately stopped her attack and moved in for another one. This time however, she kept jumping around and Kakashi wasn't sure where she would attack from. Deciding not to remain a sitting duck, Kakashi jumped away and started moving around as well, keeping an eye on her movements. They both kept running and jumping around five minutes and none of them lowered their guard even for one second. Asuka smiled a bit happy that her student seemed to possess a shred of logic and patience unlike some of her previous possible students. Of course, nobody ever pleased her so she never had an official student.

Deciding now was the time to attack; Asuka used a burst of chakra to come in front of him in around one second. Kakashi lifted the sword up a bit going for a block with no swing which was a good call since Asuka disappeared and reappeared behind him. Kakashi, having seen this attack in their previous spar was ready, turned around and managed to meet her sword and blocked it her swing. Not wanting to stay on the defense, Kakashi stopped the block and swept his sword at her in a quick slash. Asuka ducked and went in for another attack. Kakashi knew he had no chance of blocking that so he jumped just enough to avoid her attack and attacked her from above. Asuka blocked it with ease and came back with another attack to his chest. Since Kakashi was still in mid-air and wouldn't be able to block it with his sword, he quickly took out a kunai and managed to prevent her from hitting him by blocking, however, his hand quivered under the force and he jumped away.

"Good, but you still need to practice you swordsmanship," Asuka halted the small spar she conducted to see what he learned over the past few days. She asked him not to practice with a sword as in not to build anymore bad habits but she expected him to read some of the books. Apparently he had, because his standard grip was perfect, his stance left few openings, his feet moved better with the sword and his attacks were graceful. All in all, she was pleased with the dedication Kakashi showed and was elated to find a good student. "Which books did you finish?"

"All of them," Kakashi replied standing upright once he noticed she had stopped the spar.

"Really?" Asuka was surprised, then again she did meet him in a library and he had a ton of books in his basket, "How much do you read anyway?"

"Whenever I can," Kakashi shrugged "It's my hobby I guess."

"Useful hobby," she smiled "Now then, we are going to go over some exercises to commit some movements to muscle memory. This is the boring part of sword training but it's essential, after I teach you an exercise I expect you to add it to your morning katas since we won't waste time going over them when we train."

"Alright," Kakashi nodded. Ever since he came back from to the past, the only thing he did in his morning warm up was simple chakra exercises and some basic taijutsu movements to wake himself up. In the future he used to devote most of his time to perfecting the Mangekyo Sharingan and that wasn't viable anymore.

"We will first work on the simple slashes, they shouldn't take more than five minutes really but the basics are the basics so…" she said as she demonstrated a series of slashes that started with a horizontal slash. In the end, she came back to the horizontal slash and finished the circle of slashes. Every slash was equally distanced from the other and they all meet at the same center point, the perfect circle. Not only that, but when she reached what would be the six on a clock, she switched to her left hand and finished up the clock. Kakashi was impressed because Asuka had precision and speed when she did this and she finished it up in six seconds. Kakashi bet that she would've finished quicker if she hadn't switched her sword to her left hand. "Your turn, start slow, accuracy is more important than speed right now, once you become highly adept then you can start working on the speed.

Kakashi nodded and stepped up to the log next to hers and began going through the slashes. He had taught himself how to use the left hand as well as the right, however, like everyone else, he felt more comfortable with his dominant hand which was his right. Right now, however, he realized that his younger self was not used to using both hands and all the training he had done to get his left hand dependable and efficient was lost. Kakashi scowled at the offending hand and felt slightly depressed about having to start that over again since it was the most boring and annoying skill to train. None the less, he had no choice but to start it up again and made sure to add another thing to his morning katas.

After he finished the slashes, Kakashi moved back a bit to observe his work. Like he expected, the right handed strikes were precise, although weaker than what his future self could've pulled off. The left was a mess though, his slashes had varying distances among each other and only one of them slashed through the center.

"I thought you were going for a duel approach," Asuka laughed "How are you going to do that with such bad control over your left hand?"

"I just need to work on it more," Kakashi huffed "It's easier with punches."

"Of course it's easier with punches, with a punch, you still have decent control as to where it's going to land, and all you need to train for is strength. With a sword, you are commanding a weight and extension to do beyond your bodies capabilities. That can only be achieved if you have total control over your hand in question," Asuka explained still smiling.

"I will work on it," Kakashi muttered still annoyed.

"Don't worry about it," Asuka reassured him "If you apply yourself you'll get there. Just work a lot on it, I'm going back to work soon and I won't be able to train with you a lot so we need to get you to a point where you can learn new things on your own."

"Yes, shishou," Kakashi nodded.

Asuka smiled at the title before continuing "Well, we need to work on some attacks, a good one is the cross slash, once you hit your point once, he will falter a bit and you can get in another slash if you are fast enough. So what I need you to do is create an "X" with your right hand as fast you can then switch to the left, do the same, then switch back to the right and so on."

"With a duel technique I can do it in one attack, right?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course, but it's easy to see coming, so it would be better to hit with the first sword while the other is on standby, then you'd be faster than with one sword and could almost always get that succession. But we'll get to that later."

"If two swords give you a wider range of attacks, why don't most people go for it too?" Kakashi asked her already having a good idea of what the answer would be.

"It's harder to control and most ninja can't work with two weapons simultaneously. It takes more dedication and even then not most could do it. You have some who work with even more swords but I prefer the duel technique since you can only do so much with many swords. It goes both ways." Asuka told him while Kakashi kept slashing.

"What is your style?" Kakashi asked curiously as he switched to his left hand.

"More power," she commented on his slashes before answering, "I'm accomplished with both one sword and duel technique. Of course, when I use one sword they are specialized like the ones we used when we first sparred. So I can use the best sword, or swords, depending on my opponent."

"That's pretty cool," Kakashi commented as he continued to slash away.

"Thanks," Asuka grinned. The training continued and Asuka gave him some more 'basic' exercises till night fell. Of course, Kakashi knew that most of the exercises she was giving him were more than basic, he didn't mind. In fact, he was glad because the basics were really easy and boring.

"We'll do this again soon," Asuka said "You can use one sword in combat if you want, but don't use your left hand because I don't trust you'd be able to do that without getting hurt just yet."

Kakashi scowled at het for the last part and vowed to become ambidextrous as soon as possible. They parted ways and after a quick shower, Kakashi fell asleep.

Three day had passed and Kakashi managed to train with Asuka once more. The other two days had been spent in his team's company, training. Since they were branching out more with their studies, Minato started assigning three hours a day for solo training. Rin usually worked on her skill with senbon Obito was improving his taijutsu and strength in addition to meditating for an hour, whereas Kakashi used that time to train using swords, especially his left hand. Minato sensei would overlook their training one by one and helped them whenever he can; he would then later retreat and read some advanced research or would write some seals.

Today, Minato sensei had dismissed his team early, announcing that they had finally got a mission, B-Rank. Kakashi was excited and nervous at the same time. He wanted to see his teammate's progress but was afraid of them getting into danger. He wasn't sure if he would be able to leave it to his sensei to protect them, which would cause Kakashi to use more skill than what he should have right now, and that might result with having to answer some awkward questions. It's not that he didn't trust Minato, it's just that he had finally gotten his team back, something he had dreamed about endlessly, and he wasn't about to just sit there and let harm befall his teammates. Kakashi knew that this mission would test his self-control. Well, thought Kakashi as he walked towards 'Miyuzaki's Apparels' to get his new outfit for the mission, at least it should be interesting.

Kakashi soon found himself standing in front of the shop and entered, eager to see how his outfit turned out. He entered the shop and was met with the familiar sight of various aisles lined with different Shinobi apparels from sandals and boots, to backpacks, to forehead protectors, to mesh and anything a Shinobi might need to be well-equipped for any situation they might face. He scanned the shop in order to find Tadao, and surprisingly, found him talking to Asuma and what looked like his older brother. He was wearing a sleeveless brown vest over another sleeveless dark green shirt that bunched under his neck, he had a small amount of bandages wrapped above his elbow on both sides and dark grey pants that almost covered his entire leg (The way he appeared in 'Road to Ninja' if you want a visual reference).

Kakashi felt his heart clench in pain as he saw his recently deceased friend alive and well again. In this timeline, Kakashi was forced to interact with Gai a lot, and thus, Asuma in turn. That forced interaction had caused the future smoking Shinobi and Kakashi to become well acquainted, even friends, albeit the fact that Kakashi was a bit of jerk at that time. Of course, Kakashi was too strung up with his problems that he never bothered to acknowledge that relationship in the past, something Kakashi was sure to amend this time.

Tadao looked up when he heard the door open and the wind chimes near it whistle, announcing that a customer had entered the shop. He saw his youngest paying customer incline his head slightly in greeting once he met his eyes and Tadao smiled and waved him over. Kakashi saw Asuma turn to whatever had caught Tadao's attention and his eyes winded in recognition and surprise when he saw Kakashi.

"What are you doing here, Kakashi?" Asuma questioned when the silver haired Shinobi was standing beside him.

"Getting groceries," Kakashi deadpanned and enjoyed Asuma's smile turning into a glare.

"So you two know each other," Tadao smiled at the two young shinobi.

"Yes," Asuma replied whereas Kakashi settled for a nod, "By the way, this is my older brother, Harou."

"It's nice to meet you, Harou san" Kakashi bowed in respect to the older teen.

"You too, Kakashi kun," Harou replied "Asuma has mentioned you more than once."

Kakashi whipped his head back to Asuma in a questioning manner, Asuma, at least, had the grace to look embarrassed, "It's all good, don't worry."

"It was," Harou laughed at the exchange "I heard you are quite skilled for someone your age."

"So they tell me," Kakashi replied indifferently "but there is still much for me to learn."

"Since when?" Asuma smirked knowing that his friend was prone to bragging about his 'superiority'. Kakashi simply shrugged in reply.

"Why don't you and Asuma kun hang about while I finish some business with Harou san, then I'll get to you, Kakashi kun," Tadao said. Kakashi and Asuma were all too pleased to not having to hear about the details of Harou's purchases and started wandering around the store.

"I didn't know you got your clothes from here," Asuma commented as he and Kakashi browsed the racks.

"I didn't," Kakashi said "this will be my first time."

"Well, this shop is amazing so I'm sure you'll be satisfied," Asuma said "Custom job?"

Kakashi nodded, "For missions," he clarified.

"Where's your saber?" Asuma questioned looking at the sword strapped to Kakashi in confusion.

Kakashi sighed but put his hand inside his weapon pouch and took out a scroll, "In here."

"I guess a sword might give you some more reach, you're pretty short after all," Asuma smirked.

"If I didn't like you I would've beat you up for that comment," Kakashi scowled as he put the scroll back in the pouch.

"It's a good thing Gai forced us on each other then," Asuma laughed.

Kakashi cracked a smile before his mouth settled into a frown, "Speaking of Gai, I haven't seen him in a while, is everything alright?"

"He might've tried to do a forbidden taijutsu move that caused the ligaments in his ankle to tear," Asuma said while shaking his head ruefully, "the medics said it would be best for it to heal normally since Gai was still a growing boy."

"Seriously, that guy," Kakashi sighed in annoyance. (No Pun Intended :P)

"Ah well, it may teach him about pacing himself and not going to the extreme," Asuma said. The two boys looked at each other and then let out a burst of laughter.

"Yea, and Anko will stop obsessing over sharp objects and dango," Kakashi snorted.

"Ah well, it's part of Gai's….." Asuma was at a loss of words.

"Charm?" Kakashi helped him out, but the choice in words caused them both to laugh again, the idea of Gai with any ounce of charm was ridiculous.

"Asuma!" Harou called out for his younger brother "I'm done, let's go."

"Alright!" Asuma called back "I'll see you around I guess, later," and he gave Kakashi one last smile before heading out the door with his brother. Kakashi could tell that Asuma was a bit put off by his friendliness but he didn't seem to dwell on it much and both of them ended up enjoying the conversation much more than Kakashi thought he would, considering he was around triple Asuma's age mentally.

Kakashi walked up to Tadao since it was his turn now, Tadao seemed excited as he gestured Kakashi towards his office to get his outfits. "I'm sorry I had to come a day earlier than planned, Tadao san," Kakashi apologized "I have a mission tomorrow and was wondering if I could get at least one of the set if I can?"

"No need to worry," Tadao dismissed "besides, all of them are ready. Since you are a bit small it didn't take much to sew the outfits together." Kakashi's left eye twitched at the small comment but let it slide. He wasn't really all that short compared to people his age, but since he was a year younger than all of his friends, people assumed he was the same age, and thus, short. Of course, Tadao probably meant that anyone under fifteen would be considered small to him, so Kakashi didn't take it personally.

"They're all ready," Kakashi was impressed and let it show in order to please Tadao.

Tadao opened a closet and took out the articles that belonged to Kakashi, "I really like the way they turned out," he nodded. Kakashi grabbed the forest one and held up the T-shirt for inspection. He had to admit, Tadao really did a fine job. The pattern was that of any typical camo pattern, various squiggles and waves of different color interlaced, but Tadao made sure the colors blended together. Kakashi couldn't help but notice how the greens Tadao used were scarily close to that of the trees that adorned the forest outside of Konoha. The pants were plain brown though, and Kakashi realized that they were meant to be the 'the bark of the tree'. Brown sandals were also provided to compliment the outfit. When Kakashi looked at the long shirt, he noticed that they switched from the green camo to brown as it went down the arm so that if Kakashi stood behind some branches, the long green pattern wouldn't seem suspicious. Kakashi knew that most ninja could hide their presence, however, even if they managed to sense his general location, he wouldn't be easy to pinpoint in this garb.

"This is the sword holster you requested," Tadao handed him the brown holster that was shaped like an X to house two swords. Tadao showed him how to take it apart if he wanted to equip only one sword and then how to put back together again. "Also, I thought that your hair might be a dead giveaway so I fashioned you a couple of forehead protector bandanas, two in brown and two in forest camo style."

"These are amazing, Tadao san," Kakashi complimented earnestly and Tadao smiled "Where are the rock ones?" Tadao retreated back to the closet and took out the last outfit which was completely brown but was designed in a way that represented rock structure and texture. "You've outdone yourself, Tadao san."

"It was nothing," Tadao smiled as he helped Kakashi place the new garments in bags "It was quite the pleasure working on these." After everything was done, Kakashi bid Tadao farewell after praising him once more and spent the rest of the day reading as he waited for tomorrow to come.

Kakashi walked out his front door and locked it before he made his way to the gate to meet his team. He was wearing the T-shirt and short forest combination along with the brown sandals since it was a really warm day, he had also decided to stick with the forehead protector for now. One of his standard swords was placed in the holster strapped to his back and a backpack slung over his shoulder. His sensei had said that this would be around a week long mission so Kakashi had some extra weapons, a set of his old clothes, a toothbrush, toothpaste, two books, scrolls, some food and a sleeping bag stowed inside. It might've have seemed like much but the load was pretty light.

Kakashi arrived and found his sensei already by the gate, chatting with the two guards that watched the gate. Minato looked up towards him once he sensed his student's chakra in the vicinity and Kakashi enjoyed seeing his sensei get a slight shock at his appearance. It wasn't every day you surprised Konoha's Yellow Flash after all.

"Good Morning, sensei," Kakashi greeted first.

"Good Morning, Kakashi kun," Minato smiled warmly "I like your new outfit."

"Thanks," Kakashi nodded as he dumped his bag on the floor "I know the camouflage will only help me a bit, but every bit counts when you are fighting for your life, right, sensei?"

"That's a good code to follow but I won't let anything happen to you," Minato chuckled "Let's sit down while we wait for the rest, you're a bit early so we might be here a while."

"You're early too," Kakashi noted as he lifted his bag up and dumped it near the base of the gate before sitting down on the cool ground and leaning his back and head at the wall, his legs outstretched in front of him. Minato leaned on the wall next to him and put his right over his left and bent them a little, leaving his right leg dangling off the ground.

"You don't seem excited," Minato commented "You're usually excited to prove yourself when we get higher ranked missions. Of course, since you're a high ranking chunnin now, B-Rank missions might not be all that exciting anymore. Maybe you want to be out in the field in the camps, right in the middle of it." In all retrospect, Minato and Kakashi should be out at the camps, however, Obito and Rin were newly minted chunnin and would need a bit more experience before they settled into a camp. Since Minato was an important figure, however, he would go on a lot of missions without them so that he could help at the front lines. Kakashi usually accompanied him from time to time but he was mostly left behind with Obito and Rin despite the fact that he was one of the strongest chunnin in Konoha in spite of his age. Minato had told him that it would be a waste for him to die early, so the elders had decided to allow him to train more and become stronger before throwing him completely in the field. In the past, Kakashi despised this, but now, Kakashi wasn't looking forward to the day when team Minato would finally be cleared for the frontlines.

"It's all the same to me," Kakashi shrugged. He wondered why he was being so honest with his sensei ever since he came back to the past; he no longer tried to hide his feelings even if they made his sensei more suspicious of his new attitude. Kakashi hazarded a guess that it was for either two reasons: one, he felt guilty lying to his sensei especially since he was supposed to be dead, or two, he just wanted to be honest with at least one person in the past and his sensei seemed to fit that role, not to mention that Kakashi felt safe and at ease with him. After further contemplation, Kakashi figured it was the combination of both.

"Why's that?" Minato asked, honestly curious as to why his student started having a different outlook on many things.

"In the end, all that matters is that we make it out alive regardless," Kakashi replied "Some ninja die on C-Ranked missions while others survive S-Ranked ones. Also, missions could go wrong at any time, so C-Ranked could turn into an A-Ranked one while an S-Ranked could end up devoid of action. Nothing is set in stone by labels such as mission rank." Minato looked at Kakashi curiously as if trying to figure something out and Kakashi feared that he had said too much. "Umm , sensei?"

"Who told you that?" Minato asked knowing that it couldn't be Kakashi's words since only someone with experience could've said what his student had just said, especially since Kakashi was taking the ranking of missions seriously two weeks ago. "Was it Asuka?"

"Reading," Kakashi had started using that excuse a lot but he found out that it worked pretty well and could cover up a lot of stuff Kakashi could say or do.

"You were an avid reader since the day I met you," Minato said "so how come you started realizing these things now?"

"Well, I used to focus on skills, ninjutsu and shinobi arts more than history and ninja journals," Kakashi came up with an elaborate lie on the spot, "But by expanding my reading material I'm starting to learn more about the world of shinobi and not just the skills they use. It's quite different and shocking to read things from that point of view. I might not understand the exact experience since I have you to protect me; however, I can almost imagine what it'd be like to face some of the things I've read about."

"You've grown up, Kakashi," Minato stated proudly and Kakashi felt himself swell up with happiness at those words. Even though he was thirty years old mentally, the satisfaction that came with getting approval from the person he looked up to the most would never fail to bring him joy.

"Thanks," Kakashi said timidly. He wondered whether his sensei would be proud of the man he came in the future or after Obito and Rin's deaths. In the past, Minato had told him that he was proud despite the fact that he couldn't protect his other teammates. Kakashi often wondered whether that was true or whether Minato was trying to console him since he was well beyond depressed after Rin's death. He hoped it was.

After that, they settled into a comfortable silence until Rin walked up to them with a smile on her face, "Good Morning," she greeted them and made to sit next to Kakashi.

"Good Morning, Rin," Minato smiled.

"Good Morning," Kakashi said as she settled down comfortably on the floor.

"I like the new outfit, Kakashi kun," she said shyly "It suits you."

"Thanks," Kakashi replied "It's only for missions though."

"Makes sense," Rin smiled "I've stoked a lot of medical supplies, sensei, hopefully nothing will go wrong, but…"

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Minato assured her. Rin smiled at her sensei's words and then settled into the silence that had built up before her arrival as the rest of the team waited for their final member to show up. He had been much better at coming on time these days so they figured that they'd only have to wait for a while.

True enough, ten minutes later, the Uchiha came barreling towards them at a fast run before skidding to a halt in front of them and allowing a few speaks of dust to rise from the ground. "I'm not late!"

"Ten minutes only," Minato smiled comfortingly and Obito cheered happily while Rin laughed at her teammate's absurdity. "Let's get going then."

Obito nodded enthusiastically and started marching forwards but stopped in his tracks once again when he saw Kakashi, "What's with the new clothes?"

"Why not?" Kakashi shrugged in reply.

"I thought you only changed the pants and protector," Obito said, clearly still confused.

"You assumed wrong," Kakashi drawled to stay in character but his words held back all the harshness and bite they had had in the past. Obito seemed ticked off but let it slide when Minato ordered them to take to the trees. As Kakashi bounded away from Konoha's gates and the safety behind the walls, he sincerely prayed that nothing would go wrong.

**Sorry for the late update guys but this is actually the second time I write out this chapter since I didn't like how it turned out the first time. I'm also still stuck on my other story "Legend in the Making" and it's driving me crazy! I want to thank all my reviewers since you guys always make me happy and your feedback is always helpful and encouraging **

**Fluffpenguin: Thanks for telling me that Kakashi has above average chakra reserves and he only drained quickly because of the sharingan. I didn't figure it would drain him that much :P this gives me much better leeway with the fight scenes that are coming up! Also about that Raikiri, it's true he has numerous ways to use it but if he has more he could just incorporate his favorite jutsu into his fights and different situations more. We can go for the stealth (like you said) , or charge with a kunai (like you said again ;) ), or he could hit from long range… If he has more variations, he has more options as to how to use it and more opportunities to do so. If you saw the episode a week back, he used a bunshin to create to chidoris that were connected which was pretty awesome! I hope that made sense :D If not, maybe we could PM each other and discuss it more. **

**Till next time! ;)**


	6. Border Patrol

Team Minato had spent the day running north towards the border of the Fire Country. It was a while before the sunset when Minato ordered his students to set up camp near a river. Kakashi was charged with setting up the two tents and Rin was tasked with starting the fire which was safe to light since they were well inside their borders. Obito, on the other hand, was setting up traps around the perimeter while Minato observed making slight corrections whenever they were needed. Minato always asked a different student to set the wards to ensure that they all knew who to set a safe location in whatever situation they might find themselves in.

Rin and Kakashi finished before Obito and set off to the nearby river to refill their water bottles and catch some fish for dinner. The sun had set and the nocturnal animals were starting to wake up all around them.

"The weather is great," Rin said in hopes of striking a conversation.

"I guess," Kakashi shrugged "Better than we are going anyway."

"Have you ever been on a border patrol mission before?" Rin asked curiously knowing that Kakashi sometimes accompanied Minato sensei on higher ranked missions while she and Obito were left behind.

"Loads of time," Kakashi nodded "I've always been left there when Minato sensei would be required to fight at the frontlines. I did go to the frontlines twice though, but only when Konoha had the advantage."

"Why's that?" Rin asked.

"The elders don't want me to die because I'm a valuable tool and they hope that, despite my father's mistake, that I'll become as good as a ninja as he was," Kakashi said nonchalantly.

"You're father?" Rin never heard Kakashi talk about his parents but knew that he was an orphan.

"The White Fang," Kakashi nodded and Rin's eyes widened in recognition of the name. Although nobody ever told her specifics, her parents had told her that the White Fang was as strong as the legendary sennin and was hailed as hero. They then told her that he was met with a tragic death but never elaborated further. "I'll catch the fish," Kakashi offered.

"I'll get the water then," Rin replied in acceptance. Kakashi approached the river bank, took out four kunai and tied them with some wire. Once he was done with that, he sent as burst of chakra into the water and was rewarded with a couple of fish jumping out. Kakashi reacted immediately and threw the kunai with accurate precision catching four fish. Each kunai impaled a fish and soared until it struck the rock on the other side of the bank with a dull thud. Kakashi then pulled the wire towards him and the kunai were pulled loose and flew back at him. Three of the fish were dead, but one was flailing either in an attempt to be free or from pain. Kakashi ended its suffering and then repeated the process to capture another four fish. Once he was done, he turned towards Rin who was waiting for him to finish, the four small water bottles and one large one already stowed in her backpack. "Let's go back," Rin stated "Obito is probably done."

Kakashi nodded and they started trekking back to camp. "Do you want me to carry the backpack," Kakashi asked politely.

"It's not that heavy," Rin smiled at him "Worry about the fish."

Kakashi had them wrapped in some and stacked up on his outstretched hands, "They smell," Kakashi sighed.

"Yes they do and your advanced sense of smell really doesn't help," Rin nodded sympathetically.

"It's a good thing I wear a mask," Kakashi muttered.

"It also protects you from airborne viruses," Rin said ever the medic.

"Obito's goggles are also useful," Kakashi commented "they prevent elements getting into his eyes and clouding his vision."

"Although I don't think that's why he wears them," Rin smiled.

"I don't wear the mask for either the reasons we mentioned either," Kakashi said offhandedly "still turned out useful though."

"Maybe I should cover something next so I won't feel left out, maybe my hair so people don't grab me with it," Rin chuckled.

"Or you could cut it?" Kakashi said thinking of Sakura and how she had done just that.

"I like it long," Rin said twirling a strand of hair. Kakashi simply nodded not knowing what to say to that.

"Good you're back," Minato smiled when his two students entered the camp making sure to avoid Obito's traps.

"Who's gutting the fish?" Rin asked as she unzipped her backpack, took out the bottles and handed them back to the owners who took a quick sip before tucking them back into their own. Kakashi and Obito both pointed at her and she sighed, boys.

"Are you sure Rin?" Minato asked as she took the fish from Kakashi "You did it last time."

"I don't mind," Rin smiled "If Kakashi guts them, he'll keep complaining of the smell and if Obito did them he'd finish as soon as possible and we'd eat maimed fish." Her teammates spluttered indignantly but couldn't refute her comments since they were true.

"So what do we have to do at the borders?" Obito asked as they all settled around the small fire Rin had started.

"We have to make sure that enemy ninja don't enter our side of the border," Minato explained.

"But why would they if the fighting was happening someplace else?" Obito asked in confusion "Wouldn't they be more helpful fighting then sneaking around the border?"

"That would be because our supplies are near the border," Minato elaborated "It's well-hidden but the enemy ninja are going to attempt to find it and destroy our supplies in order to weaken our side. Also, we cannot let enemy ninja roam our lands unchecked, so Sandaime sama would end up having to sacrifice a few shinobi to find them, and in war, every man counts."

"And women," Rin added.

"And women," Minato confirmed.

"So we just have to walk around the border trying to catch any enemy trying to come through?" Obito asked in disappointment.

"It's a very important job," Minato replied "and there is tons of actions at the border so don't worry, you'll get to fight ninja."

"If you say so," Obito said dubiously.

"It's true," Kakashi decided to help his sensei out knowing how annoying it was when students, Naruto, complained about missions "Every time I've been there skirmishes broke out."

Rin seemed more ill at ease by this bit of information while Obito grinned happily.

"Don't worry Rin, you won't be required to fight since you are a medic ninja," Minato assured her "And once the fighting is done you'll heal any minor injuries these two get since I won't let them be killed."

"Not to mention the fact that enemy will flee the second they take a glimpse of Minato sensei," Kakashi sniggered. Obito laughed loudly, Minato looks bemused while Rin smiled knowing that Minato sensei would keep them safe.

"I knew you were really strong sensei, but seriously?" Obito asked still laughing.

"The strongest don't," Minato said modestly.

"The others lose all the color in their face, sweat like pigs and then either run away or become rooted in the spot in fear," Kakashi said proudly.

"I can't wait to see that!" Obito exclaimed "You're awesome, sensei!"

"Yes well… hopefully you'd get a chance to fight," Minato smiled at his students "Rules."

"Rules?" Rin asked.

"Yes, Rin, since you are a senbon user you could technically help our side but throwing them discreetly from the sidelines, however, you are not used to the chaos that sprouts in battles so I want you to get more experience with senbon before we go down that road," Minato stated and Rin nodded understandingly before turning back to the fish that she was now cooking "Kakashi, for the sake of your own safety, don't use a sword in your left hand."

"I'm much better now, sensei" Kakashi muttered in aggravation while Obito laughed at the 'your own safety' bit.

"Even so," Minato replied strictly "still not good enough for actual battle. Obito, you've come miles in your taijutsu, I'll guarantee that you'll notice a massive difference in your fight, but just don't try the flashier moves till you try them in an actual spar first. Clear?" A chorus of yeses sounded and Minato nodded satisfied. "I'll try to leave you to your own devices as much as I can, but if I see you behaving recklessly I'll pull you out."

"Can you afford to pull us out though?" Kakashi questioned.

"This mission was assigned as a training mission for you guys, so that Obito and Rin can experience the easier side of war before we start heading to the frontlines," Minato stated.

"Are they that horrible, sensei?" Rin asked in worry as she handed the cooked fish around so they could eat.

"I guess I can't skirt around the issue any longer since we'll be sent there in a few months time," Minato sighed "Yes Rin, the frontlines are chaotic, cries punctuate the air, the stench of blood heavy is in the air and many dead bodies litter the floor. It's a nasty business but we are shinobi, it's our job to protect those who can't protect themselves." All his students fell into silence after this small speech each lost in their thoughts. Rin and Obito were worried and were trying to imagine what it would be like fight in such circumstances, Kakashi on the other hand, was thinking back on his own experiences and of the many comrades he had seen die protecting their land and families.

"Anyway, you guys won't go there for some time so let's focus on the present," Minato interrupted the silence "I'll take the night shifts, you guys just get some rest, I'll wake you up at dawn."

Taking that as a dismal, his students headed to sleep. Obito and Kakashi were in one tent while Rin slept with Minato sensei in the other. Kakashi and Obito entered the tent together and climbed inside their sleeping bags. Without saying goodnight, not that they ever did, both boys went to sleep.

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It was around four in the afternoon when Team Minato made it to the border between Takigakura and Kusagakure since the Earth Country and Fire Country didn't have any other place where the borders met. The outpost wasn't situated between the two countries, rather, in the border line between the four countries. (Check this website: wiki/Geography, it shows how the borders are laid out if my description didn't make sense to you).

The Konoha shinobi who were stationed at the outpost were thrilled to see Minato and welcomed him enthusiastically.

"Any trouble?" Minato asked.

"We had a run in with the enemy two days ago but nothing recent," one of the shinobi reported.

"Excellent," Minato nodded "Can you show us our lodgings?"

"Right this way, Minato sama," a teenager quickly volunteered and led the team to the tents. He pointed Minato to the tent where the leader of the outpost slept and informed him that he would be sharing the tent with him. Kakashi rolled his eyes at the hero worshiping but didn't comment aloud. "You two," he gestured to the two boys "will stay in that tent over there with the rest of the newest recruits, and finally, the young lady will be in the same tent with the female medics," he ended as he pointed Rin to a tent near the river that was sheltered by a large tree.

"Looks like Rin and sensei got a much better deal than us," Obito muttered as he and Kakashi walked to their tent to deposit their belongings.

"Sensei is practically royalty among the Konoha shinobi so we shouldn't be surprised," Kakashi told him "and medic ninja are precious since we don't have so many, so it makes sense to treat them a bit better than the average grunt."

"We risk our lives just the same," Obito didn't like the explanation. Kakashi just sighed and made to open the flap of the tent. Many looked up from whatever they were doing to look at the new arrivals. Most of them were in their middle teens unlike Kakashi and Obito who were still eleven.

"We were assigned to lodge with you," Kakashi stated when nobody said anything.

"Aren't they a bit young?" one of the shinobi said to his friend.

"We are chunin!" Obito yelled to the person who had asked the question.

"Seriously, Jato, don't you know who these are?" a rather buff looking man in his late teens leered at Jato "One of them is an Uchiha while the other is the Hatake, rumored to be a prodigy. Both are the students of Konoha's Yellow Flash. You shouldn't underestimate them."

"How'd you know?" Obito asked in confusion. He hadn't turned his back for one second so they couldn't have seen the Uchiha sign stitched to his back.

"I saw your fight in the chunin exams," said the muscled teen "and the white hair is a dead giveaway."

"It's light silver," Kakashi corrected with a shrug him as he walked further inside the tent "Where are we sleeping?"

"I don't like your attitude," another shinobi stood up and walked in front of Kakashi "Talking as if he's better than us."

"I simply corrected the fact about my hair color and asked a logical question," Kakashi told him keeping his voice indifferent "I don't see how that is offensive, shinobi san."

"Who do you think you are?" Obito growled at the older teen.

"Leave them, Royama," another shinobi called out with authority so Kakashi figured he was the leader of the group in a sense, "You are sleeping in that corner," he continued pointed at the one closest to the tent entrance, " try not to cause trouble."

"Thank you," Kakashi bowed lightly, gave his back to Royama and headed towards his sleeping bag. He dumped his bag on the one closest to the flap and Obito threw his on the one next to him. Without another word to their tent mates, they left.

"Jerks," Obito muttered when they were further away.

"Ignore them," Kakashi advised him "They're jealous that a bunch of kids were ranked the same rank they are."

"We are awesome," Obito smiled. Kakashi snorted lightly as he eyed the bird flying towards the leader's tent.

"Minato sensei is probably being forced to listen to reports while Rin is probably learning some things from the medics," Kakashi noted as he and Obito walked around aimlessly "What should we do?"

Obito startled for a moment since he expected Kakashi to ditch him, but he recovered quickly, "I don't know, you are the expert here."

"I used to listen to the more experienced shinobi talk about their experiences, the ones that were willing to at any rate," Kakashi replied.

Obito was about to reply when they the chief's voice sounded from his tent, "Four squads of rock ninja were spotted three kilometers due to east from here. The squads tasked with the elimination of said enemy are, squad 3,5,6,8, and Team Minato, you are to leave immediately."

Obito and Kakashi rushed back to their tent, grabbed their supplies, and left to join up with the force. Rin motioned them over to her when she saw them coming. Kakashi looked around and saw a few familiar faces from his tent: he recognized Jato, the muscled teen that identified them and the one who pointed them to their sleeping bags.

Minato started addressing the team having been tasked as the leader of the platoon; he pointed out the three medics that needed to be defended, gave out the position of every squad and then signaled them to move out. Minato was up front, Rin was in the middle as it was the safest position and Obito and Kakashi were near the rear.

After ten minutes, the enemies were spotted and the squads immediately engaged them in a fierce fight. Obito didn't know what to do so Kakashi grabbed his hand and he bounded towards Rin deciding that they were going to be her defense. Obito understood what Kakashi was doing when they landed in front of Rin. Kakashi took out his sword while Obito took out a kunai and they shielded Rin while watching the fights that were breaking out around them.

Kakashi cursed when he saw Minato sensei fighting two jounin listed in the bongo book at once, "_This isn't a small raid by any means._" Kakashi thought "_Since Minato sensei is preoccupied by the two ninja, the others are left to fend for themselves. If only the jounin weren't here, Minato sensei would've taken out the enemy in seconds. I'll protect Obito and Rin till sensei is no longer preoccupied. It would probably make sensei suspicious since my past self wouldn't have been able to focus on his own fight while he kept an eye on the others but I won't leave anything to chance."_

Kakashi's train of thought ended when an enemy came running towards them, his eyes on Rin. Kakashi knew his plan was to take out the medical ninja and he wasn't going to let him. Kakashi gripped his sword more tightly and rushed out to meet him after calling for Obito to stay back. The enemy laughed cruelly as he saw a young child rushing towards him, a determined look on his face. Kakashi knew from that look that his enemy was underestimating which would give him a chance to kill him before he could react. Once Kakashi was close enough, he gave himself a burst of speed and disappeared for a second before reappearing crouched under the enemy. Without giving the enemy who was probably a chunin time to react, Kakashi thrush his sword upwards right through his throat. Blood squirted unto Kakashi's face as the enemy lost his life, his eyes frozen in shock.

Kakashi sensed a ninja coming from behind him and turned in time to intercept the kunai that man had aimed as his own neck. Kakashi knocked the kunai out of the way before charging in for a stab. The man, having seen his teammate being killed by the child knew not to underestimate him so he managed to dodge Kakashi's attack by jumping back.

"You're not bad," the man stated and went through the signs for an earth jutsu "but I'll kill you."

The man weaved the signs slowly compared to the enemies Kakashi had fought in the future, and he recognized the signs as a spiked stone pillar jutsu. Kakashi concentrated his chakra at his feet and burst forward avoiding the jutsu that emerged behind him and used a jutsu of his own.

"Mud Slide jutsu," Kakashi muttered and the earth under his enemy became liquid causing the man to lose his balance for a split second. That split second was all the Kakashi needed to slit his throat ending the man's life. He was about to face another enemy further out front but noticed an enemy engaging Obito, with Obito being forced to stay on the defensive.

Kakashi ran towards his teammate just as the enemy was about to deliver a fatal blow to Obito. Kakashi knew he would be too slow to push Obito out of the way or block the attack, so he settled for taking the attack himself. He jumped in front of Obito and grunted in pain as a sword was shoved through his left shoulder. Obito, on the other hand, had disappeared from the spot he was in and Kakashi didn't have time to think about it when the enemy that had injured him died from a neck wound like all of Kakashi's other enemies. Rin ran towards him as Minato turned to face the rest of the enemy. Obito stood in front of Rin and Kakashi to provide them with protection while Rin healed him. Kakashi waved away Rin's concerns and surveyed the field till he found the two jounin Minato sensei was previously fighting dead on the floor.

"_Minato sensei teleported Obito out of harm's way" _Kakashi thought as he felt Rin's chakra enter his body to close the wound.

The second Minato sensei entered the main fray, Konoha won quickly and all the enemy ninja were lying dead on the floor. Once the fighting was over, Minato ordered one of the more experienced ninja to take a body count and list how many had died, he then walked towards his students.

Obito was still crouched in a battle stance while clutching his kunai tightly, adrenaline still coursing through his body. Minato grabbed his hand and pushed it down lightly, Obito relaxed visibly, made to stow away his weapon and let out a tired sigh.

"It's all healed," Rin announced as she started tying a bandage around Kakashi's shoulder.

"Thanks," Kakashi nodded and turned to face Minato who was eyeing his wound. "On my defense," Kakashi told his sensei "I had no idea you were still watching us while fighting two jounin simultaneously."

"So you decided to fight two chunin while keeping a watch on your teammates?" Minato asked disapprovingly.

"They were easy to deal with, besides I fought them one on one," Kakashi refrained from shrugging as to not irritate his shoulder.

"We will talk about this later," Minato said as he turned to the rest of the platoon.

"None died, although, two were fatally injured," one reported "but thanks to our medics they are no longer in critical danger and with time they'll be as good as new."

"Good work everyone," Minato nodded approvingly "We'll head back now while squad 5 disposes of the bodies, squad 6 will help with the injured, move out."

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The platoon returned victoriously and was congratulated for not losing a single ninja. Right now, all those who were sent out were turning in for sleep. Kakashi however, was sitting outside perched on a tree looking at the half-moon. He heard a rustle from below and saw his sensei jumping on the branch and sit down.

"What you did today…" Minato began "it raises many questions for me. In fact, lots of your recent behavior has been different. What really happened that day you missed practice?"

Kakashi sighed having known that his sensei was going to approach him about the topic eventually. He thought of some answers but none he was truly satisfied with. With no choice but to use one of the scenarios he had invented, Kakashi went with the one that, despite being ludicrous, would help Kakashi reveal information about the future without suspicion. His sensei was either going to place him in therapy or believe him, but with what he had come up with, the therapy was much more likely.

"I had a dream," Kakashi stated praying that this would work out.

"A dream?" Minato repeated in confusion "What was it about?"

"Obito died," Kakashi said without elaborating further.

"Obito?" Minato didn't expect that.

"It was a very detailed dream," Kakashi said quietly "There was lots of details, even mundane ones, it felt like I was living it. It didn't feel like a dream at all, worse than even a genjutsu." Minato's eyes widened never having heard of anyone having such vivid dreams; it was a cause for worry. He simply motioned for Kakashi to continue not sure what to say. "I don't want to go into the details," Kakashi said "but I was in charge, Rin was captured, I didn't want to abandon the mission but Obito went to save her, I changed my mind and turned back, lost my eye protecting Obito, we rescued Rin, the enemy caused a cave in, I lost consciousness because a rock hit me in my blind eye, Obito pushed me out of the way, Obito died instead."

"Kakashi…" Minato called his name quietly and was distressed to see Kakashi fighting back tears "It was just a dream."

"Even so," Kakashi replied "It could easily happen, with what happened to my dad, I can easily see me having abandoned Rin and it's my fault Obito died."

"It's not," Minato stated fiercely "Our actions have many consequences, some we can't even imagine. Besides, you went back. Despite what happened with your father, despite how hard you are trying to prove that you aren't him, you still went back for Rin. Even if it's a dream, I'm proud of the dream Kakashi."

Kakashi didn't expect that, in the pats timeline Minato said the same thing but since Obito was dead, Kakashi figured his sensei was trying to make him feel better. But here he was, all of them whole, saying the same thing once more.

"Is that why you changed your attitude?" Minato asked.

"I know that ninja should burry their hearts, but, Obito and Rin are important to me. I tried to push them away but I can't help it," Kakashi said "I'd rather die myself than let something happen to them. The dream should me what could happen and reality hit me hard. I'm just glad it was a dream and not real. If that actually happened in real life…"

"You never know how much time you have with those important to you," Minato said "Make sure you enjoy every minute you have with them."

"I will," Kakashi vowed and Minato smiled then ruffled his hair.

"I saw your fight today," Minato said coming into the second issue he wanted to discuss.

"What about it?" Kakashi asked hiding his nerves.

"You're much more skilled," Minato stated "and you killed without hesitation, care to explain that."

"I fought with a sword and I've been training on how to deliver fatal blows with Asuka shisou," Kakashi informed him which was true. Only, Kakashi was the one who asked Asuka to teach him such skills to hide some of his skills.

"And the hesitation?" Minato nodded.

"I didn't kill the guy that caused the cave in when I had the chance," Kakashi informed him "If I did, Obito wouldn't have died. I learned my lesson. It's either us or them, show mercy in a war and it'll stab you in the back."

"Just make sure you don't lose yourself along the way," Minato cautioned having understood where Kakashi was coming from.

"I know, sensei," Kakashi responded.

"Also, I know this is hard for you but I insist that when get back to Konoha, that a Yamanaka look at your dream," Minato said.

"Why?" Kakashi asked in fake confusion. He couldn't believe that it worked. If a Yamanaka looked at his memory of his 'dream', he'd know it wasn't an ordinary dream. Hopefully, they'll label him as a seer or something and he could fake having similar dream to relay information of the future. Kakashi had a lot of experience with the Yamanakas and knew how to manipulate the memory to make sure they won't think it was an actually memory.

"The way you described the dream is not normal," Minato told him "just to be safe."

"If you say so, sensei," Kakashi shrugged "As long as I don't have to see it again."

"You won't," Minato promised.

"Minato sama!" a shinobi came rushing towards them "They need you at the frontlines, as soon as possible."

"I'll leave right now," Minato nodded "Kakashi, you guys don't leave this outpost, alright?"

"Hai, sensei," Kakashi replied and his sensei disappeared into the night a second later.

**I hope you enjoyed that! About the seer thing, don't worry; it won't be a whole report about the future. His 'visions' will be far in between so he won't call suspicion towards himself. The story will still be centered on the relationship of Kakashi and his team. **

**Prescripto13: Aren't we all waiting for that moment :P By the way that picture you told me about in your review for 'Legend in the Making' was awesome! It actually took me a while to find it as I was taken away by the rest of umaken's art :D Thanks for that! You're the best!**

**Fluffpenguin: I'm glad you told me that the day to day conversations were interesting, I enjoy them to so it's nice to know that my readers enjoy them too =D Your insight on Kakashi's techniques were eye opening like usual and they'll help me a lot when I reach that part of the story! Thanks a million =D**

**Elise: First of all thanks for reviewing ^_^. You are completely right on the first chapter and I'm thinking of going back to it and rewriting it to make it better. It really is poor compared to my either chapters. Thanks for telling me since now I'm more eager to go back and fix it up. Thanks again!**

**Everyone else thanks for the kinds words and comments! It's awesome to have all of you have taken the time to tell me what you think and I hope I don't disappoint. Till next chappie!**


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